
aass^Eied. 



Book-^lViil 



OFFieiAL DONATION. 




HIS EXCEuuEinCt EDwiin waRFIELD, 
Governor of Maryland. 



THE STATE OF 

MAETLAND 

A DESCRIPTION OF ITS 

LAEDS, PEODUOTS AI^D 
II^DUSTEIES 

COMPILED BY 

T. J. 0. WILLIAMS 

FOR THE BOARD OF PUBLIC WORKS 

1906 



Baltimore, Md. 

THE SUN JOB PRINTING OFFICE 

1906 



ri8 



D. UF C. 



^ TABLE OF CONTENTS 



Tagr. 

Chapter I — A General Description of Maryland... 7 

CirAPTEK II — Mines and Quarries 23 

Chapter III — Agricultural Soils 35 

Chapter IV — The Chesapeake Ba}^ 44 

Chapter V — An Outline of History 54 

Chapter Vl—Statc Officials 68 

Chapter VII — Publid' Schools and tJie P^ducational 
System — libraries — Geological Survey — State 

Care of Consumptives 76 

Chapter VIII — Statistics of Population of Maryland 83 

Chapter IX — Public Road Improvement — Elevations 

above tide 89 

Chapter X — The Capital of Maryland. . : 97 

Chapter XI — Baltimore City, the Gate to the South 110 

Chapter XII— Tlie Counties 122 



PREFACE 



This book is designed principally for distribution at 
the Jamestown Exposition, and its object is to give 
people who do not live in Maryland a correct knowl- 
edge of its geography, its soil, climate and produc- 
tions and the extent of its manufactures and its 
natural resources. It was to have been compiled by 
Mr. Norval E. Foard, a member of the editorial staff 
of the Baltimore Sun, who was thoroughly informed 
of all things pertaining to Maryland, and who wrote 
a volume similar to this for the St. Louis Exposition. 
Just after the Board of Public Works had passed the 
order requesting Mr. Foard to do this work, that gen- 
tleman died from an attack of pneumonia. He had 
devoted a great part of his life to Maryland affairs, 
and was well qualified for this work which had been 
assigned to him. After his death the Board of Public 
Works requested the undersigned to compile the book. 
In doing so he has made free use of the Report of the 
Maryland Bureau of Statistics, by Mr. Jacob Schon- 
farber, and of various publications of the Maryland 
Geological Survey, W. Bullock Clark, State Geologist, 
which also supplied most of the illustrations. 

T. J. C. Williams. 

Baltimore, 1906. 



CHAPTER I 

THE STATE OF MARYLAND 



Maryland is one of the thirteen original States. It 
lies on the Atlantic seaboard, and is included between 
the parallels of 37° 53' and 39° 43' 26" of north lati- 
tude and 75° 4' and 79° 33' west longitude. Its north- 
ern boundary is Mason and Dixon's line, which sep- 
arates it from Pennsylvania on the north. Delaware 
joins it on the east, and is also separated from Mary- 
land by the same historic boundary. The Atlantic 
ocean forms a portion of the eastern boundary. The 
Potomac river separates it from Virginia and West 
Virginia, the whole of the river to low water mark on 
the southern side being within the jurisdiction of 
Maryland. 

The area of the State of Maryland is not large, and 
It is the smallest State of the Union except four. And 
yet it extends from the Atlantic ocean across the 
Coastal Plain, and the broad Chesapeake, the Pied- 
mont region, the Blue Ridge mountains, the Great Val- 
ley and westward of the ridge of the Alleghany moun- 
tain range, its northwestern corner draining into the 
water courses of the Mississippi valley. In that terri- 
tory there is every variety of soil, and most of the 
crops and fruits and flora of the temperate zone. Its 
geology illustrates the geological history of the «on- 
tinent, and its climate varies from the balmy tem- 
perature of the seaboard, where the winters are mild, 
and such fruit as figs, apricots and almonds grow in 



8 The State of Maryland 

the open air, to the rigorous climate of the Alleghany 
mountain heights, where the mercury sometimes sinks 
to nearly 30 degrees below zero, and where the sum- 
mers are cool and delightful. Between these two ex- 
tremes there is the wholesome, bracing air and equa- 
ble temperature of the uplands, which extend from 
near Baltimore westward to the Alleghany mountains. 
The extreme length of the State from east to west 
is 250 miles; the extreme breadth from north to south 
is 128 miles. The total area is 12,210 square miles, of 
which 2,350 are water. This water area is made up 
principally of the Chesapeake bay and its numerous 
tidal tributaries. The entire land surface of the State 
drains into the Chesapeake, except a part of Worces- 
ter county, whose streams find their way through 
Assateague and Sinepuxent bays to the ocean; the 
northeast portion of Cecil county, which drains into 
Christian creek and the Delaware, and the most of 
Garrett, which is drained by the Youghiogheny and 
Castleman rivers into the Ohio. 

The northern boundary, known as the Mason and 
Dixon line, which became famcusnater as the bound- 
ary between the free and slave-holding States of the 
North and South, was, according to an agreement 
made in 1732, to run due west from Cape Henlopen 
(fifteen miles south of the point now known by that 
name) to the middle of the peninsula of the Eastern 
Shore, thence northv/ard tangent to a circle of twelve 
miles radius— whose center was at Newcastle, Dela- 
ware—and then due north from the tangent point 
until it reached a parallel of latitude fifteen miles 
south of the southernmost part of Philadelphia. From 
this point the line was to run due west. Surveyors had 
already determined the position of the "center of the 
peninsula," the north and south line, and the "tangent 
point," when Charles Mason and Jeremiah Dixon, 



Mason and Dixon's Line 9 

noted English astronomers and mathematicians, ar- 
rived in Philadelphia in 1763. From their arrival 
until December, 1767, Mason and Dixon were busy- 
locating the "southernmost part of Philadelphia" and 
the northern boundary of the State, which they sur- 
veyed and marked as far as Dunkard creek. West Vir- 
ginia, where they were stopped by the Indians. Along 
the greater portion of this line each mile was marked 
by a stone monument, which had the letter "P" en- 
graved on the northern side, and the letter "M" on the 
southern side, while at each fifth mile was a stone, 
known as the "crown-stone," with the coat of arms 
of the Penns cut on the northern face and with 
that of Lord Baltimore on the southern. These stones 
were brought from England. Some of the original 
monuments remain in good condition, but many have 
become dilapidated or been removed. The line has 
been recently relocated by a Commission composed 
of representatives of the States of Maryland and 
Pennsylvania and of the United States Government. 
The southern boundary, long in dispute, was per- 
manently settled in 1877, as far as the Maryland-Vir- 
ginia portion is concerned, by a board of commis- 
sioners appointed by the States of Maryland and Vir- 
ginia. According to their agreement, the boundary 
line follows the low-water line on the right bank of 
the Potomac river to Smith's Point at its mouth, 
thence northeasterly across Chesapeake bay to the 
southern end of Smith's Island, and thence to the mid- 
dle of Tangier sound. Here the boundary runs south 
10° 30' west, until it intersects a straight line con- 
necting Smith's Point and Watkins' Point. From this 
intersection the line runs to Watkins' Point, and 
thence eastward through the center of Pocomoke 
sound and Pocomoke river until it reaches the west- 
ward prolongation of the old Scarborough and Calvert 



10 The State of Maryland 

line surveyed in 1688, which it follows to the Atlantic 
ocean. There is still some controversy as to the exact 
location of some of the boundary marks. The States 
of Maryland and West Virginia have not yet deter- 
mined the western terminus of this line. 

THE CLIMATE. 

The climate of Maryland is as varied as its surface 
configuration, and is to a considerable extent depend- 
ent upon the latter. These climatic differences are 
also due to the nearness of large bodies of water, such 
as the Atlantic ocean and the Chesapeake bay. The 
climate of most of the State has the healthfulness com- 
mon to the eastern part of the United States, and in 
character is midway between that of Maine and that 
of Florida. In the eastern and southern parts of the 
State the winters are mild. While in the western and 
more elevated portions the winters are quite cold and 
the summers delightfully cool. The so-called "climatic 
changes" depend upon differences in temperature, pre- 
cipitation, winds, humidity and barometric pressure. 

The average temperature for the year varies ma- 
terially in the several sections of the State, the tem- 
perature of the northern and western divisions, which 
ranges from an average of 27° in winter to 70° in sum- 
mer, is several degrees lower than that of the south- 
ern and eastern divisions, where the temperature for 
winter is, on the average, about 40° and for sum- 
mer 77°. In general, the average temperature of 
Southern Maryland is 2° higher than that of Balti- 
more, while the temperature of the country to the 
north and west of the city decreases as the elevation 
of the land becomes greater. In the western part of 
the State the valleys are slightly warmer than the 
mountains, but are more liable to early frosts. 

The precipitation of moisture in Maryland occurs 
in the form of rain, snow and hail, usually the first. 



The Coastal Plain 11 

especiall3^ in the southern and eastern parts of the 
State. There are no distinctly wet and dry seasons, 
as in tropical countries, hut careful observations show 
that there is more rain in the spring and late summer 
than in the autumn and winter. There are also special 
areas where there is considerable rainfall, and others 
in which the precipitation is slight. The records show 
that the areas of greatest rainfall are on the eastern 
slope of the Catoctin mountain, in the Frederick val- 
ley, and along the shores of the Chesapeake bay be- 
tween Cambridge and Annapolis, while the areas of 
least precipitation are between Denton and Westmin- 
ster and in the mountainous counties. The annual 
precipitation in the State varies, according to locali-, 
ties, from 25 to 48 inches. 

The winds in Maryland generally blow from the 
west, but during the summer they come more from 
the south, and in the winter more from the northwest 
and west, especially in the eastern and central por- 
tions of the State. In the mountainous regions of 
Western Maryland the winds are more commonly from 
the northwest and west throughout the year. 

The State is divided into three areas, known as the 
Coastal Plain, the Piedmont Plateau and the Appa- 
lachian Region. 

The Coastal Plain embraces the eastern portion and 
Includes the area between the Atlantic ocean to a line 
passing from Wilmington, Delaware, to Washington, 
D. C, through Baltimore. It embraces the nine coun- 
ties of the Eastern Shore, five southern counties and 
portions of Harford and Baltimore. This is also 
known as the tidewater section of the State. It in- 
cludes the Chesapeake bay, and nearly every portion 
of it is reached by navigable streams or washed by 
the waters of the bay. The soil of this section is 
mostly light and in many places sandy. Much of it is 



12 The State of Maryland 

fine wheat and corn lands. All of it will produce to- 
bacco, although its cultivation is nearly confined to 
the five southern counties on the Western Shore. 
There is no finer soil and climate for the production 
of fruit and vegetables than this Coastal Plain. In 
every part of it pure water is easily procured by 
driven wells. The fruit most commonly produced in 
this region for market are peaches, apples, plums, 
pears, strawberries and other small fruit and melons. 
It is an ideal region for truck farming, producing 
early vegetables and fruit, and having cheap and 
quick access to the markets of three great cities- 
Philadelphia, Washington and Baltimore. The land 
of the Eastern Shore counties is low and level, most 
of it having no greater elevation than 25 feet above 
sea level. 

The Piedmont Plateau is a low-lying plateau of 
complex origin whose rolling surface is traversed by 
highlands and cut by valleys which now and then 
trench the upland as deep gorges. It is divided into 
an eastern division and a western division by the 
inter-stream elevation known as Parr's Ridge, which, 
passing from western Montgomery county across 
Howard and Carroll counties, rises to an elevation of 
over 1,100 feet near the Pennsylvania line. A close 
study of this central portion of Maryland shows that 
the level-topped hills and broad stretches between the 
streams are remnants of old plains cut out of the 
high plateau that formerly stretched across the dis- 
trict from the Appalachians on the west to the sea on 
the east. Four such plains may be recognized by 
patching together their present remnants. The 
history of this district has also left its impression 
on the inhabitants. The best farming lands lie either 
on the flat-topped ridges or on the richer but wetter 
flood-plains of the valleys, and here may be found the 



The Counties 13 

most prosperous agriculturalists. The trenching of 
the old plains has exposed the underlying rocks and 
stimulated the quarrying of building stones. It has 
also determined the location of the highways, while 
the waters descending from the highlands to the 
valley bottoms have developed v/ater-powers which 
have been utilized by the numerous small mills 
throughout the district. 

The Appalachian Region, extending from the Pied- 
mont Plateau on the east to beyond the western limits 
of the State, consists of a series of parallel mountain 
ranges with deep valleys between. This region may 
be divided into four divisions — the Blue Ridge on 
the east, the Great Valley, the Allegany Ridges from 
North Mountain to Big Savage Mountain, and the 
Allegany Plateau from this point to the western 
limits of the State. These are but small segments 
of the similar divisions which extend northward into 
Pennsylvania and southward across the Virginias into 
the Southern States. 

Maryland is divided into 23 counties and Baltimore 
City, of which Garrett, Allegany, Washington and 
the western part of Frederick comprise the moun- 
tainous region known as Western Maryland; the 
eastern part of Frederick, Carroll, Montgomery, 
Howard, Baltimore, Harford and the western part 
of Cecil the Piedmont area, which is also referred to 
under the name of Northern-Central Maryland; Anne 
Arundel, Prince George's, Calvert, Charles and St. 
Mary's, commonly called Southern Maryland; and 
the eastern part of Cecil, Kent, Queen Anne's, Talbot, 
Caroline, Dorchester, Wicomico, Somerset and Wor- 
cester, known as Eastern Maryland. Of these 23 
counties all but seven lie upon navigable waters. 

There seems to have been no consistent method 
adopted in erecting the several counties of the State. 
Some, like St. Mary's and Kent, grew with the de- 



14 The State of Maryland 

velopment of the province and were subsequently 
bounded by the erection of new counties; others, 
like Charles and Dorchester, v/ere erected by the 
ruling of Lord Baltimore. Cecil county was erected 
by proclamation of the Governor, while Washington, 
Montgomery, Howard and "Wicomico were established 
in constitutional conventions. The great majority of 
counties were, however, erected by Acts of Assembly. 
The records now extant do not show the original ex- 
tent or the exact date of erection of several of the 
counties, but it is of interest to note that 18 out of 
the 23 counties were established before the close of 
the Revolutionary V/ar and 11 of these before 1700. 
Baltimore City since 1851 has not been in any county, 
but, unlike any other American city except New York, 
is a distinct division of the State. 

THE POPULATION OF THE STATE BY COUNTIES. 

Cnnntips ^^*® ^^ Census, Area in ri^,,n^.„ t„„-,„ 
i^ounties Erection 1900 sq. miles ^^^^^y -towns 

Allegany 1789 53,694 440.5 Cumberland 

Anne Arundel. 1650 39,620 430.4 Annapolis 

Baltimore ... 1659 90,755 646.8 Towson 

Balto. City. . . j 18^1 508,957 30.0 

Calvert 1654 10,223 216.8 Prince Frederick 

Caroline 1726 16.248 317.4 Denton 

Carroll 1838 33,860 445.3 Westminster 

Cecil 1674 24,662 374.6 Elkton 

Charles 1660 17,062 462.0 La Plata 

Dorchester ... 1666 27,962 573.2 Cambridge 

Frederick 1748 51,920 660.0 Frederick 

Garrett 1872 17,701 681.0 Oakland 

Harford 1773 28,269 439.8 Belair 

Howard 1850 16,715 249.1 Ellicott City 

Kent 1637 18,786 281.0 Chestertown 

Montgomery.. 1776 30,451 517.6 Rockville 

Pr. George's.. 1695 29,898 479.6 Upper Marlboro 

Queen Anne's. 1706 18,364 363.4 Centerville 

St. Mary's,... 1637 17,182 369.1 Leonardtown 

Somerset 1668 25,923 328.6 Princess Anne 

Talbot 1661 20,342 267.1 Easton 

Washington.. 1776 45,133 457.3 Hagerstown 

Wicomico 1867 22,852 368.9 Salisbury 

Worcester ... 1742 20,865 491.5 Snow Hill 

The State 1,188,044 9,891.0 Annapolis 



The Ark and the Dove 15 

TOTAL POPULATION AT VARIOUS PERIODS. 

Year. Population. Year. Population. 

1634 200 1800 341,546 

1660 12,000 1810. 380,546 

1671 20,000 1820 407,350 

' 1701 25,000 1830 447,040 

1715 30,000 1840 470,019 

1748 130,000 1850 538,034 

1756 154,188 1860 687,049 

1760 166,523 1870 780,894 

1770 199,827 1880 934,943 

1775 225,000 1890 1,042,390 

1782 254,050 1900 1,188,044 

1790 319,728 

The counties of Maryland, unlilte those of many- 
other States, are the ultimate units of territory and 
not the combination of townships. This fact, to- 
gether with the paucity of large towns and the agri- 
cultural character of the communities, have made 
the counties as such of unusual importance in all 
political and social relations. Election districts are 
established in all the counties. 

Maryland was settled by a party of Englishmen 
under Leonard Calvert, who left the mother country 
in the "Ark and Dove" in 1633, and finally landed near 
the mouth of the Potomac, on the shores of St. Mary's 
river, in 1634. The proprietor, Cecil Calvert, second 
Baron of Baltimore, received the territory from 
Charles I., under a charter which allowed many lib- 
erties, including freedom from taxation by the King. 
In 1649 the colonists established these privileges by 
the "Toleration Act," which forbade discrimination 
on account of religious opinions. The Puritans from 
Virginia sought refuge in Maryland, and in 1652 even 
captured the State government for a period. 

About this time the Duke of York (afterwards 
James II.), through ignorance of the country, deeded 



16 The State of Maryland 

to William Penn some of the land which had already 
been given to Lord Baltimore. This mistake led to a 
long border dispute, which only ended with the loca- 
tion of the Mason and Dixon Line (1763-1767). In 
1694 the capital of the State was moved from St. 
Mary's City to Annapolis. 

During the Revolutionary War no important mili- 
tary operations took place in Maryland, although the 
"Maryland Line" fought with valor in many engage- 
ments, especially those of Long Island, Camden, Cow- 
pens, Guilford and Eutaw Springs. On December 22, 
1783, Washington resigned his commission as com- 
mander-in-chief of the army in the Senate chamber at 
Annapolis, where the Continental Congress was then 
in session. 

During the War of 1812 several Maryland towns 
were pillaged by the British, but Baltimore v/as saved 
from plunder by the repulse of the enemy at North 
Point and Fort McHenry. It was during the bom- 
bardment of the latter place that Francis Scott Key 
wrote "The Star-Spangled Banner." 

Among the battles of the Civil War three were 
fought on Maryland soil — South Mountain (Septem- 
ber 14, 1862), Sharpsburg, or Antietam (September 
16-17, 1862), and Monocacy (July 9, 1864). There were 
also small conflicts at many points, especially along 
the Potomac. 

In the history of the State are many incidents which 
have since become of national or international im- 
portance. The first wheat was shipped to Europe from 
Baltimore in 1771; the first regular steam packet that 
crossed the Atlantic direct from the United States 
sailed from Baltimore in May, 1838; while the Morse 
telegraph line transmitted its first message ("What 
hath God wrought") from Baltimore to Washington, 
April 9, 1844. Baltimore was the first city in America 



i^r- Y \'-^^^- "- 



'm-:\ 






«,';7f ^ >tf(m S ^"'' ' '" * '^^"'**^^ "- 




Religious Freedom 17 

to have a water company (1792), street gaslights, a 
railroad (1828), and an electric street railroad (1881). 
The city contains the first American monument to 
Columbus, the first official State monument to George 
V/ashington, the oldest American lodge of the Inde- 
pendent Order of Odd Fellows, and the oldest College 
of Dental Surgery. 

The earliest settlers in Maryland were Englishmen. 
Many of the early settlers in the country adjacent 
to Pennsylvania were of German extraction, and 
their descendants are today numerous and influential. 
Next in number are the negroes, who comprise one- 
fifth of the population, and who are relatively more 
prominent in Charles, Calvert and St. Mary's counties, 
where they comprise fully one-half of the population; 
and least important in the western counties along the 
Mason and Dixon Line, where there is only one negro, 
on the average, to fourteen whites. In Baltimore, 
Cecil and Harford counties the negroes comprise one- 
sixth of the population, while in the counties of the 
Eastern and Western Shore, not previously enumer- 
ated, they form about two-fifths of the entire popula- 
tion. During the last twenty-five years there has been 
a great increase in the Polish, Hungarian and Bohe- 
mian inhabitants, who have settled chiefly in Balti- 
more City. 

Maryland has always been a religious center. As 
early as 1629 services were regularly conducted on 
Kent Island by an ordained minister of the Church of 
England. The first Presbyterian Church in America 
was established at Snow Hill about 1700, and in 1768 
Robert Strawbridge established the first Methodist 
congregation in America in Carroll, then Frederick 
county. Many of the most prominent of the early set- 
tlers were Roman Catholics, and the See of Baltimore 
has held the first position in America since the decree 



18 The State of Maryland 

of 1858. There are 59 denominations or sects repre- 
sented in Maryland, and although many of them are 
scattered throughout the State they show local varia- 
tions in strength, which are often closely related to 
the history, beliefs and nationalities of the early set- 
tlers. 

STATE GOVERNMENT. 

The government of Maryland is based on a Consti- 
tution formulated and ratified in 1867. Earlier con- 
stitutions were adopted in 1776, 1851, 1864, and the 
Constitution of 1776 was very much changed in 1837. 
According to the present Constitution the State is di- 
vided into 23 counties and Baltimore City, which in 
turn are subdivided into districts for school and elec- 
tion purposes. There are no units such as townships, 
but the local affairs of the cities, towns and villages 
are carried on by officers in accordance with charters 
and special acts. 

Among the State officials under the Constitution of 
1867 are the Governor, elected for four years, and the 
Secretary of State, who is appointed by the Governor. 
The Senate and House of Delegates, which together 
form the General Assemblj'- or Legislature, consist of 
27 Senators, elected for four years, one from each of 
the 23 counties and the four districts of Baltimore 
City, and 101 Delegates, elected for two years. Each 
of the legislative districts of Baltimore is entitled to 
six Delegates, the number allovv^ed the largest county. 
The Assembly meets every even year, on the first 
Wednesday in January, and may remain in session 
only 90 days. At the call of the Governor a special ses- 
sion may be held, which is limited by law to 30 days. 

The judicial powers of the State are vested in a 
Court of Appeals, composed of eight judges; Circuit 
Courts with seven chief judges, who with one from 



state and County Government 19 

Baltimore City are the judges of the Court of Appeals, 
and twenty-two associate judges, nine of the latter 
with one chief judge, who is not a member of the 
Court of Appeals, constituting the Supreme Bench of 
Baltimore City; an Orphans' Court with three judges 
in each county and the city. The Appeal and Circuit 
Court judges are elected for fifteen years, the judges 
of the Orphans' Court for four, the registrars of wills 
for six, and the sheriffs for two. The Attorney-Gen- 
eral of the State and the State's Attorneys are elected 
for four years. Justices of the Peace, coroners and 
notaries are appointed by the Governor. 

Among other prominent State officials are the Comp- 
troller, who is the financier for the State, and who is 
elected by the people for two years, and the Treasurer, 
who is the banker, and who is elected by the General 
Assembly for a two-year term. 

The more important State organizations are the 
Board of Public ¥/orks. Militia, Fishery Force, Land 
Office, State Agricultural Experiment Station, State 
Geological Survey with its Highv/ay Division, State 
Weather Service, State Horticultural Bureau, Bureau 
of Industrial Statistics, Immigration Bureau, Board of 
Education, Board of Health, Beards of Medical Exam- 
iners, Examiners of Dental Surgery, State Lunacy 
Commission, Live Stock Sanitary Board, the Fish 
Commission, the Shell Fish Commission and the 
Forestry Commission. 

COUNTY OFFICERS. 

Clerks of Courts are elected by the people, and hold 
office for six years from the date of their election. 

Sheriffs are elected by the people and hold office for 
two years from the date of their election. 

Registrars of Wills are elected by the people and 
hold office for six years from the date of their election. 



20 The State of Maryland 

Stote's Attorneys are elected by the people and hold 
office for four years from the date of their election. 

Surveyors are elected by the people and hold office 
for two years from the first Monday in January next 
ensuing from their election. 

County Commissioners are elected by the people and 
hold office for two, four or six years from the date of 
their election. The exact terms being regulated by 
different local laws. 

Judges of Orphans' Courts are elected by the people 
and hold office for four years from the time of their 
election. 

Justices of the Peace are appointed by the Governor, 
with the consent of the Senate, for a term of two years 
from the first Monday in May. Unlike other State 
officers, Justices of the Peace do not hold over until 
the appointment of their successors, but their juris- 
diction ceases upon the expiration of their term. 

Police Justices for Baltimore City, one for each sta- 
tion house and one at large, are selected by the Gov- 
ernor from the list of civil Justices appointed for the 
city and by him assigned to the several stations. 

The Boards of Supervisors of Elections in the sev- 
eral counties and Baltimore City are appointed by the 
Governor, with the consent of the Senate, for a term 
of two years. Two members of each board shall always 
be selected, one from each of the two leading political 
parties of the State. In making these appointments 
the Governor is required to call upon the State Central 
Committees of the two leading political parties from 
each county and from Baltimore City for at least four 
names from among which to make a selection. Super- 
visors In Baltimore City receive a salary of fifteen 
hundred dollars and in the counties of one hundred 
and fifty dollars. 

Notaries Public are appointed for the several coun- 
ties and Baltimore City by the Governor, with the con- 
sent of the Senate. 



Products of the Field 21 

School Commissioners are appointed by the Gov- 
ernor, with the consent of the Senate, as follows: In 
the counties of Baltimore, Carroll, Frederick, Dor- 
chester and Washington the Board consists of six 
members, and in the other counties of three. 

Maryland has 460,000 farms, with an acreage of 
2,032,000, and an annual total ralue of farm crops 
of $30,217,000. A statement of the value of each 
product to the State is as follows: 

small fruits ?1.224,000 

Potatoes liVAZ 

?rb'a:L''™"^v;;;;;;;;;;.:::: ::::::::::: iS^ 

Miscellaneous products ■'-'I??'??^ 

Vegetables ^54,000 

Hay and forage ^Io!'nnn 

Wheat 6,484.000 

Corn • 7,463,000 

Total value $30,217,000 

The animal products are as follows: 

Honey and wax $39,000 

V/ool 143,000 

Poultry and eggs 3,650,000 

Pork, beef and mutton 4,546,000 

Dairy products 5,229,000 

Total value $13,607,000 

THE FLORA AND FAUNA. 

The native plants of Maryland are not unlike those 
of Virginia and Pennsylvania, and the range within 
the State is wider than that between adjacent areas 
in neighboring States. The most prominent trees 
are oak (12 species), hickory (4), pine (4), poplar, 
maple (3), locust, chestnut, cypress, red cedar, beech 
and wild cherry. Among the wild fruit trees are the 
persimmon, the service berry and Chickasaw plum. 



22 The State of Maryland 

The various sorts of grapevine, the Virginia creeper, 
greenbrier and morning glory are common climbers 
in the State, while the wild strawberry, blackberry, 
raspberry, blueberry, huckleberry, dewberry and 
cranberry, all very abundant, represent the native 
small fruits. Besides these larger or fruit-bearing 
plants there are countless others which carpet the 
ground in rapid succession from early spring until 
late autumn. 

The animal life in Maryland is abundant, but does 
not show a great variety of the larger forms. Deer, 
black bears and wildcats are sometimes taken in the 
wilder portions of the State. Usually, however, the 
mammals are represented only by such animals as 
the ground-hogs, rabbits, skunks, weasels, minks, 
otters, opossums and squirrels. Snakes are abundant, 
but most of the species are harmless. 

The waters of the Chesapeake bay abound in shad, 
herring, menhaden, mackerel, crabs and oysters. 
Among the ducks which frequent Chesapeake bay, are 
the canvas-backs, red-heads, bald-pates, mallards, 
black-heads and teal; while the land birds include the 
reed-bird, partridge, ruffed grouse (or "pheasant"), 
woodcock, snipe, plover and Carolina rail. 

The smaller song and ornamental birds are very 
numerous and include many thrushes, wrens, swal- 
lows, sparrows, nighthawks, wild doves and the "Bal- 
timore oriole." Woodpeckers, owls, hawks, turkey- 
buzzards and crows are also numerous. 



CHAPTER II 

MINERAL WEALTH 



The following chapter and that on soils was pre- 
pared by the Maryland Geological Survey for the 
Maryland Commissioners to the Pan-American Ex- 
position in 1901: 

The mineral resources of Maryland are of much 
value and have yielded a great variety of products, 
some of which afford the basis for important com- 
mercial enterprises. The old crystalline rocks, con- 
fined for the most part to the Piedmont region be- 
tween the Monocacy and the Chesapeake, have afforded 
the most varied mineral products. Here occur the 
most important building stones; the slates of Delta 
and Ijamsvilie; the granite of Port Deposit, Wood- 
stock, Ellicott City and Guilford; the gneiss of Balti- 
more; the marble of Cockeysville and Texas; the 
crystalline limestone of Westminster; the sandstone 
of Deer Creek; and the serpentine of Broad Creek 
and Bare Hills. In these oldest rocks occur also the 
ores of gold, copper, chrome, lead and zinc. Iron ore 
is also found here, while all the flint, feldspar, kaolin 
and mica in the State must be sought for in these 
rocks. These older rocks also appear in the Blue 
Ridge district, where they form the Middletown valley 
and have yielded traces of copper, antimony and iron. 
The rocks of later age, forming what geologists 
call the Paleozoic system, make up the western sec- 
tion of the State. They furnish much sandstone and 



24 The State of Maryland 

limestone suitable for building purposes, the latter 
also being burned extensively for agricultural pur- 
poses. There are also important deposits of cement 
rock that have afforded the basis for an extensive 
industry. At the top of this Paleozoic system of rock 
formations are situated the coal beds of the famous 
Cumberland-George's Creek coal basin, including the 
wonderful Big Vein that is universally thought to 
furnish the highest quality of steam and smithing 
coal. These same rocks also contain important de- 
posits of fire-clay and iron ore, the former affording 
the basis for a very important fire brick industry. 

The post-Paleozoic formations of the State, although 
not as rich in mineral products, are not devoid of 
deposits of economic value. The interesting varie- 
gated limestone breccia, known as Potomac marble, 
and the brown sandstone of Frederick and Montgom- 
ery counties belong to the oldest of these post- 
Paleozoic strata. The series of still unconsolidated 
beds, representing much of the remainder of post- 
Paleozoic time and comprising all of Eastern and 
Southern Maryland, and known as the Coastal Plain, 
furnishes the chief supply of brick, potter's and tile 
clay; of sand, marl and diatomaceous earth (silica), 
and much of the iron ore. The clay industry, par- 
ticularly, is one of the most important in the State. 

COALS. 

The coal deposits of Maryland are confined to 
western Allegany and Garrett counties, and are of 
the great Appalachian coal field, which extends from 
Pennsylvania southward into West Virginia. The 
Maryland coal is mainly semi-bituminous or steam 
coal, and in the George's Creek basin, near Cumber- 
land, contains the famous "Big Vein," or Fourteen- 
foot vein, that for steam-producing and smithing 



Coal and Clays 25 

purposes lias no superior and few equals in any 
portion of the world. Below the "Big Vein" are a 
number of smaller workable seams that contain coal 
of fine quality, which is already securing an extensive 
market. The Maryland coal was discovered early 
in the century, and has been continuously worked 
since 1836, when the first company was organized. 
The aggregate output of Maryland steam and smithing 
coal at the present day amounts to several million 
tons annually. 

The Maryland Big Vein coal occurs in the upper 
coal measures, while the most important of the small 
veins are in the lower coal measures. The latter 
have received less consideration in the past on account 
of the reputation of the Big Vein, but are destined to 
play a very important part in future coal develop- 
ment in Western Maryland. 

The Maryland coal is high in fixed carbon, and, 
especially in the case of the Big Vein, low in sulphur 
and ash, thus possessing in highest measure those 
qualities which give to coal its steam producing power. 

CLAYS. 

The clays of Maryland are widely Extended, occur- 
ring in a great number of the geological formations. 
They are the most extensively developed through a 
belt running from northeast to southwest along the 
western margin of the Coastal Plain, and including 
both the Baltimore and Washington regions. Other 
Important clays are found in the central and western 
sections of the State, and even the southern «nd east- 
ern counties are not without this material in large 
quantities. The Maryland clays are suitable for all 
grades of building brick, tile, terra cotta, fire-brick 
and some grades of pottery. Brick-making began in 
Maryland in colonial days, and has since been one 
of the most important industries in the State — the 



26 The State of Maryland 

great brick works of Baltimore being among the 
largest of their kind. The manufacture of fire-brick 
has been one of the most characteristic industries 
of Maryland for 50 years, and the brick made from 
the Carboniferous clays of Allegany and Garrett 
counties are regarded as the best in the country. 

The State of Maryland is well provided with porce- 
lain materials, including flint, feldspar and kaolin. 
The flint is widely distributed throughout the eastern 
portion of the Piedmont Plateau, and is especially 
abundant in Cecil, Harford, Baltimore, Carroll and 
Montgomery counties. It occurs as vein fillings in 
the form of pure granulated or vitreous quartz. In 
Harford county, where the veins are most abundant, 
the quartz has been quarried in large amounts. It 
is crushed, and then shipped in sacks to the potters. 

Kaolin is produced mainly in Cecil count5% which 
is part of the most important kaolin region in the 
United States, other deposits being found in the ad- 
joining portions of Delaware and Pennsylvania. 

Sand deposits of economic value have been ex- 
ploited both in the western and southern sections 
of the State, and the sandy sediment from the bed 
of the Potomac river and from other streams has 
also been dredged in large amounts. The Paleozoic 
formations of Western Maryland contain at two hori- 
zons important glass-sand deposits that have been 
mined extensively in nearby regions. The most ex- 
tensively developed sand deposits in the State, how- 
ever, are found in Anne Arundel county, where large 
excavations have been made in the Cretaceous de- 
posits near the head of the Severn river, and a good 
grade of glass-sand obtained. The location of these 
sand deposits at tide renders it possible to ship the 
materials cheaply by water, and it is probable that 
they will be much more fully utilized in the future 
than they have been in the past. 



Marl and Iron Ore 27 

Molding-sand, suitable for brass castings, is found 
in the vicinity of Catonsville, Baltimore county, and 
this deposit is worked to some extent at the present 
time. A sand is secured from the south shore of the 
Patapsco river below Baltimore for pig-iron casting. 

The Tertiary formations of Eastern and Southern 
Maryland contain important marl deposits that have 
never been developed except for local uses. Their 
agricultural importance has not been generally rec- 
ognized, although they have been worked to some 
extent since the early decades of the century. The 
older Tertiary marls are glauconitic, and are not 
unlike the famous greensand marls of New Jersey, 
which have been so largely and successfully employed 
there as a natural fertilizer. Greensand marl contains 
a small percentage of phosphoric acid, some potash 
and a greater or less amount of carbonate of lime. 
When spread upon the surface of the land the effect 
is slow, but is often more lasting than the commercial 
fertilizers. The younger Tertiary marls are mainly 
shell deposits, and are commonly known under the 
name of shell-marls. They frequently contain a large 
percentage of lime, and thus afford a valuable addi- 
tion to certain soils. 

Diatomaceous earth, knovm to the trade as silica 
or tripoli, has been produced in larger quantities in 
Maryland than anywhere else in the United States. 
It is chiefly found in Calvert and Charles counties, 
where it has been more or less extensively worked 
at the mouth of Lyon's creek, on the Patuxent, and 
at Pope's creek, on the Potomac river. 

IKON OKES. 

The iron ore industry in Maryland was developed 
early in colonial days, and continued until a recent 
period to be one of the most important factors 



28 The State of Maryland 

in the prosperity of the State. The only ores now- 
being produced in Maryland to any extent are the 
carbonate ores derived from the clays along the 
western margin Of the Coastal Plain, chiefly in Anne 
Arundel and Prince George's counties. The great 
bulk of these ores is today smelted in the Muirkirk 
furnace in Prince George's county. It is interesting 
to note that this carbonate ore was probably the first 
iron ore worked in Maryland, and is, even today, 
highly prized for its tensile strength. 

Mineral paint has been produced at several points 
in Maryland. Large quantities were obtained in 
former years from the brown iron ore deposits of 
Frederick county. Ochre mines have also been oper- 
ated in Carroll and Howard counties. The deposits 
of chief importance at the present time, however, are 
found associated with the clays in Anne Arundel 
and Prince George's counties. In the latter locality 
the material is a fine and highly ferruginous clay 
that can be easily worked, and large quantities have 
been annually mined. It occurs in many grades and 
colors. 

BUILDING STONE. 

The building and decorative stones of Maryland are 
widely distributed throughout the western and cen- 
tral portions of the State, and consist of many differ- 
ent varieties, which, from their diversity in color, 
hardness and structural peculiarities, are well adapted 
for nearly all architectural and decorative purposes. 
Among the most important may be mentioned the 
granite, gneiss, marble, limestone, slate, sandstone 
and serpentine. Among the localities in Maryland 
where granite has been most extensively worked are 
Port Deposit, in Cecil county; Woodstock, in Balti- 
more county; and Ellicott City and Guilford, in How- 
ard county. Other areas in Cecil, Howard and Mont- 



Valuable Quarries 29 

gomery counties contain some good stone, but it is 
quarried only for local use. At tlie localities first 
mentioned the granite is extensively quarried at the 
present time, and has afforded material for the con- 
struction of some of the most important buildings in 
the country, including the Capitol and Congressional 
Library in Washington, Fortress Monroe, Forts Car- 
roll and McHenry, the United States Naval Academy, 
and other public and private buildings, as well as 
bridges in Baltimore, Washington and Philadelphia. 
The excellent quality of the stone renders it available 
in many cases as a decorative stone, and monumental 
work has already been undertaken. 

The more solid varieties of the gneiss occurring in 
and near the city of Baltimore are extensively quar- 
ried for use as foundation stone. This rock is of a 
gray color, and occurs in parallel layers of light and 
dark stone. 



The marble of Maryland is mainly confined to the 
eastern division of the Piedmont Plateau. The white 
varieties occur for the most part in Baltimore county, 
and the highly variegated marbles in Carroll and 
Frederick counties. The white marbles of Baltimore 
county are found in a series of narrow belts a few 
miles north of Baltimore City. The most important 
of the areas is that which extends northward from 
Lake Roland to Cockeysville, and which is traversed 
by the Northern Central Railway. The marble has 
been extensively quarried both at Cockeysville and 
Texas, the well-known Beaver Dam Marble Quarries 
of the former locality having been in successful oper- 
ation for more than 75 years. The rock is a fine sac- 
charoidal dolomite of great compactness and dura- 
bility. Monoliths of large size can be obtained at the 
quarries. Many important structures in Baltimore, 



30 The State of Maryland 

Washington and Philadelphia have been made of this 
marble. Stone for the construction of the Washing- 
ton Monument, in Baltimore, v^as taken from this 
locality as early as 1814. 

The fine-grained, compact and variegated marbles, 
or crystalline limestones, of the western portion of 
the Piedmont Plateau in Carroll and Frederick coun- 
ties compare favorably in their quality, texture and 
beautiful veining with the well-known marbles from 
Vermont and Tennessee, and are deserving of much 
more attention than they have heretofore received. 
In the Wakefield valley, west of Westminster, a beau- 
tifully mottled red and white marble occurs; others 
of black and v/hite, gray and white, and blue and 
white veining occur near New Windsor and Union 
Bridge, and still others of a variegated yellow, with 
lighter veinings, have been derived from the same 
area. This marble, on account of the limited extent 
of the deposits, has not been regarded as of much 
economic importance, but the stone, when secured, is 
well adapted for purposes of interior decoration. 

Another stone which may be classed with the deco- 
rative marbles is the Triassic conglomerate, or 
breccia, of southern Frederick county. It is known 
as "Potomac Marble," or "Calico Rock," and has 
received noteworthy application as a decorative stone 
in the old Hall of Representatives at Washington, 
where it forms a series of beautiful columns. It 
occurs, well exposed, at Washington Junction, Fred- 
erick county, and extends northward along the base 
of the Catoctin mountain. The limestone fragments 
of which the rock is composed are imbedded in a red 
ferruginous cement, and the stone, when polished, 
presents a very beautiful appearance. 

The blue limestones of the Appalachian district 
have been used to some extent for building purposes. 



Slate and Sandstone 31 

more especially in Hagerstown, where several struc- 
tures have been made of this material. The blue 
limestone changes its color rapidly on weathering, 
and with a rather pleasing effect. A very compact, 
even-grained and pure cream white stone occurs at 
one or two points in the Hagerstown valley, but has 
not been exploited to any great extent as yet. The 
limestones are extensively used for foundation and 
other purposes. 

The slate of northern Harford county is a part of 
the Peach Bottom Slate Belt that extends northward 
into Pennsylvania and southwestward into Baltimore 
and Carroll counties. The best slate in this belt is 
found not far from the Pennsylvania line in Harford 
county, the shipments, however, being largely made 
from Delta, Pa,, and on this account the slate is often 
credited to Pennsylvania. The Peach Bottom slate 
has always enjoyed a very high reputation, and is 
second to none in its durable qualities. It has been 
worked since Revolutionary times. 

The sandstones of different color which have been 
found at many localities in Central and Western 
Maryland are, many of them, well suited to furnish 
valuable building stones; but only one or tv,^o locali- 
ties have been commercially developed to any extent, 
although the stone is used locally at many points. 
The red sandstone of Triassic age in Frederick and 
Montgomery counties has long possessed much repu- 
tation in the building-stone trade. The most exten- 
sive quarries are situated on the Potomac river, near 
the mouth of Seneca creek. The Seneca sandstone has 
been quarried in a more or less systematic v/ay since 
1774, and has always been highly regarded for its 
strength and durability and its deep red color. It 
has been used in the construction of many important 
buildings, including the Smithsonian Institution in 



32 



The State of Maryland 



Washington. The white Cambrian sandstone of the 
Catoctin and Blue Ridge mountains has been ex- 
tensively utilized locally, and at times has found 
somewhat wider employment, especially by the rail- 
road companies. In Allegany and Garrett counties 
the Silurian, Devonian and Carboniferous sandstones 
have been quarried at several points, particularly 
in the vicinity of Cumberland, where two of these 
sandstone beds have furnished materials for steps, 
curbs and architectural trimmings. 

One of the most interesting and beautiful decora- 
tive stones in Maryland is the serpentine, which has 
been worked more or less extensively in Harford. 
Baltimore and Cecil counties. The rock is very hard, 
and possesses a rich emerald green color, clouded 
with darker streaks of included magnetite. Maryland 
serpentine has been used for interior decoration in 
several large buildings in New York, Philadelphia, 
Baltimore and Washington, and has great possibilities 
as a decorative stone. 

A number of the other Maryland stones have been 
used for building and decorative purposes. Among 
these may be mentioned the black gabbro, locally 
known as "Niggerhead Rock," which occurs widely 
throughout the eastern portion of the Piedmont 
Plateau. It is very hard and tough, and cannot be 
economically quarried and dressed, and on that ac- 
count has not found very wide use. The various other 
stones employed for building purposes can be re- 
garded to have little more than local value. 

Lime and Cement Products.— The limestone and 
marble deposits of Maryland have been extensively 
burned for building and agricultural uses. This in- 
dustry is not as important as it was at an earlier 
period; but there are still many kilns used for sup- 



stone and Minerals 33 

plying lime for local purposes scattered throughout 
the district in which the calcareous rocks appear. 

The limestone and marble are also used as a flux 
for blast furnaces, the main supply being derived 
from the coarse-grained marble of Texas, Baltimore 
county, and the limestone of Cavetown, Washington 
county. 

Hydraulic cement has been extensively manufac- 
tured from the magnesian limestone of western Wash- 
ington and Allegany counties, especially at Hancock 
and Cumberland (and more recently at Pinto), where 
extensive plants have long been in operation. The 
products of these industries have a high reputation, 
and have been extensively employed both within and 
without the State. 

Chrome ore was discovered in 1872 in the serpen- 
tine of the Bare Hills, in Baltimore county, and sub- 
sequently other deposits were found in Harford and 
Cecil counties. For many years Maryland supplied 
most of the chrome ore of the world, but the discovery 
in 1848 of the great deposits of chromite in Asia 
Minor caused the practical abandonment of the 
chrome mines of Maryland, although Baltimore is still 
one of the most important centers for the manufac- 
ture of chromium salts. 

Soapstone has been worked to some extent in Car- 
roll, Harford and Montgomery counties, the most 
important occurrence being in Carroll county, where 
there is a small production of this material at the 
present time. 

Among other mineral substances known to occur in 
Maryland; although not commercially profitable at 
the present time, may be mentioned lead, zinc, manga- 
nese, antimony, molybdenum, graphite, mica and 
asbestos. 



34 The State of Maryland 

The following table contains the values of the 
average output of Maryland mineral productions 
during recent years: 

Coal $3,750,000 

Brick and Tile 1,100,000 

Pottery 500,000 

Kaolin 10,000 

Flint 27,500 

Sands 50,000 

Marls 5,000 

Silica, or Tripoli 5,000 

Iron ore (carbonate) 20,000 

Mineral paints 80,000 

Building Stone- 
Granite and Gneiss $500,000 

Limestone 80,000 

Slate 100,000 

Marble and Serpentine... 80,000 

Sandstone 30,000 

Gabbro 5,000 

Miscellaneous 5,000 

800,000 

Cement — 

Rock cement $180,000 

Portland cement 20,000 

200,000 

Lime (agricultural and building) 720,000 

Gold 500 

Road materials 100,000 

Mineral waters 35,000 

Total $7,403,000 



CHAPTER III 

AGRICULTURAL SOILS 



Maryland, with its great variety of soil and climatic 
conditions, offers exceptional advantages to the agri- 
culturalist. Within the borders of the State are lands 
admirably adapted to general farming, while the fine 
market and transportation facilities offer every in- 
ducement to those who wish to enter the field of 
specialized farming. Generally it is customary, in 
speaking of the different portions of the State, to 
refer to the Eastern Shore, Southern Maryland, North- 
ern-Central Maryland, and Western Maryland. Each 
of these sub-divisions is a distinct agricultural region 
and possesses certain peculiarities of soils, surface 
features and climatic conditions, as well as different 
market and transportation facilities. 

The Eastern Shore includes the counties that lie 
on the eastern side of the Chesapeake bay. The ex- 
tremes of climate are tempered by proximity to the 
ocean and bay, and the lands have proved their special 
adaptability to early fruits and vegetables, in addition 
to the staple crops of wheat, corn, oats and hay. 

In the northern part of the Eastern Shore are fine 
wheat and corn lands, the wheat lands being rich 
loams which overlie clay loam subsoils. They are 
easy to cultivate, and can be made exceedingly pro- 
ductive. Soils of this character occupy large tracts 
of level upland in southern Cecil, Kent, Queen Anne's 
and Talbot counties. These soils are of a rather 



36 The State of Maryland 

yellowish red color, but there are other wheat lands 
with soils of a different character. In the lower 
counties, especially in portions of Dorchester, Caro- 
line, Wicomico and Worcester, are large areas of stiff 
white clayey soils that produce wheat, corn, oats and 
hay, or any crop adapted to a stiff clayey soil. Fre- 
quently these clays need under-drainage to make them 
produce well, as the subsoil is close and retentive. 

There are also large areas of rich sandy loams that 
are suited to growing vegetables and all kinds of 
small fruits, and consequently in many sections the 
canning industry has been enormously developed. The 
excellent transportation facilities allow perishable 
fruit to be shipped to all of the larger Northern cities, 
where it finds a ready sale. In some sections farming 
in recent years has undergone a complete revolution, 
the old staple crops have been given up and the more 
lucrative truck and fruit crops introduced. The peach 
crop from the Eastern Shore is very large in good 
seasons. This industry is rapidly spreading into the 
lower counties. Pears have recently proved a great 
success in Kent county. 

In connection with the soils of the Eastern Shore 
some mention must be made of the large areas of 
tidal marsh lands. Thousands of acres of fertile 
land could be reclaimed at comparatively little ex- 
pense, but as yet little or no attempt has been made 
in this direction. Lands that have been reclaimed 
are exceedingly fertile and will produce for an almost 
indefinite period. 

SOUTHERN MARYLAND. 

Southern Maryland includes the lower counties of 
the State that lie on the western side of the Chesa- 
peake bay. The land in general is higher and more 
broken than on the Eastern Shore. 



Soil of Southern Counties 37 

The soils of Southern Maryland range in texture 
from gravelly loams to light clays. Generally speak- 
ing, they consist of loams and sands which are ad- 
mirably adapted to growing all kinds of fruit and 
vegetables. The wheat lands are the heaviest types 
of soil found in Southern Maryland. They occur on 
the rolling uplands to a considerable extent, and as 
wide terraces along the Potomac and Patuxent rivers. 
These soils are heavy loams and clay loams, generally 
of a yellowish color. Some of these soils are still in 
excellent condition, in spite of having been cultivated 
for upwards of 200 years. On the uplands tobacco is 
grown as well as wheat. Wheat is grown on nearly 
all classes of soil in this portion of the State, but 
with very poor results on the lighter sandy loams. 
Lighter loams are found in some portions of the 
uplands and are better adapted to raising tobacco. 
The yield is less per acre, but the quality is good. 
Maryland tobacco is exported chiefly to Holland, 
France and Germany. It is a light, mild smoking 
tobacco, and formerly brought a much better price 
than at present. Competition with new tobacco-pro- 
ducing States and changing market demands have 
lowered the price and have correspondingly decreased 
the profits. The tobacco lands have been allowed to 
run down, and those farmers who have turned their 
attention to other crops are gratified with the results 
obtained. The sandy loams cover large areas of 
Southern Maryland. There are loose sandy soils 
which are too light in texture for producing wheat 
or grass, but since the extensive truck industry has 
been developed the lands that are near markets have, 
greatly advanced in value. The sandy river necks 
south of Baltimore are famous truck-growing areas, 
and produce enormous quantities of melons, pears, 
beans, strawberries and small fruits. Shipments are 



38 The State of Maryland 

made principally by boat when the distance is too far 
for hauling by wagon. There is also a very large 
peach industry in this section of the State. 

While certain portions of Southern Maryland have 
made great advancement along the lines of successful 
agriculture, there are still large areas of productive 
soil that are lying idle or growing up in pine forests. 

NOBTHEEN CENTRAL SECTION. 

The agricultural soils of the Northern Central 
Section of Maryland are mainly residual; that 
is, they are the products of the slow decomposition 
of the underlying rocks. They are, with few excep- 
tions, strong and fertile. They can be made very 
productive and are generally in a high state of culti- 
vation. The soils may be discussed under the follow- 
ing classes: The limestone-valley lands, the red lands, 
the gray lands, the phyllite soils and the barren lands 
of the serpentine areas. 

The limestone-valley lands are perhaps the strongest 
soils found in the region. They are identical in many 
respects with the soils of the Hagerstown valley. 
These soils are heavy red and yellow loams and clays. 
The largest valleys of these rich soils are found in 
Frederick, Baltimore, Carroll and Howard counties. 
These soils, by careful cultivation, annually yield 
fine crops of grass, wheat, corn and other cereals. 
Many of these valleys have long been noted for their 
prosperous, well-managed farms. On account of their 
heavy clayey nature they are famous grass lands and 
large numbers of cattle are fattened in these valleys. 
The proximity to Baltimore and the excellent trans- 
portation facilities have also greatly stimulated the 
dairy interests. 

The red lands may be divided into two sub-classes. 
First may be described the red lands of Carroll and 



Wheat and Corn Lands 39 

Frederick counties, which consist of red loams and 
clay loams. These soils occupy areas near the fertile 
Monocacy limestone-valley, and the differences be- 
tween the soils of the two regions can be easily com- 
pared. In good seasons the red lands are almost as 
productive as the fertile limestone soils, but during 
years when the conditions for growth are unfavorable 
the yields are not so high as from the heavy clayey 
soils of the limestone valleys. However, the red lands 
rank as good, strong soils, and generally produce ex- 
cellent crops of grass, wheat, and corn, oats and pota- 
toes, the principal crops grown in this section of the 
State. 

The second class of red land soils occupies areas 
in Cecil, Harford and Baltimore counties. The soils 
are heavy red loams, grading into stiff clay loams of 
a reddish or yellowish color. These are likewise 
strong clay soils, naturally productive and capable of 
standing considerable hard usage. They produce 
good yields of the staple crops such as wheat, grass 
and corn. In addition they produce large yields of 
tomatoes and corn for canning purposes. The can- 
ning of corn, tomatoes and other vegetables has been 
extensively carried on in Harford and Cecil counties 
for many years, and is one of the leading industries 
of these counties. The dairy interests are consider- 
able on these strong soils, which produce excellent 
crops of hay and afford fine pasturage. 

The gray lands and the corn and wheat lands, 
derived from deposits of phyllite, are so nearly alike 
in many respects that they may be discussed together. 
These soils occupy large areas in Frederick, Carroll, 
Montgomery, Howard, Baltimore, Harford and Cecil 
counties. The surface of the country away from the 
larger streams is gently rolling, but becomes hilly and 
broken along the principal streams. The surface 



40 



The State of Maryland 



drainage is good in the entire region. Tlie soils are 
grayisli yellow loams, which grade Into yellowish 
clay loams. These are naturally productive, but on 
account of their rather light texture they must be 
farmed carefully or they become exhausted. They 
are excellent corn and wheat soils, and are classed 
as good general farming lands. In Cecil and Harford 
counties they produce fine crops of late tomatoes for 
canning purposes. In Montgomery county they were 
formerly used to a considerable extent for growing 
tobacco. They are good grazing lands, and near 
Washington and Baltimore the dairy business is ex- 
tensively carried on. In the neighborhood of these 
cities market gardening is also an important industry. 
The lighter loams, especially, yield fine crops of all 
kinds of vegetables, and the nearness to market allows 
the farmer to haul his produce directly to the con- 
sumer. Transportation facilities are also good. 

WESTEHN MAKYLA]NrD. 

Western Maryland is divided into three well- 
marked districts from an agricultural point of 
view. 

The eastern district includes the broad Hagerstown 
valley and the Middletown and other smaller valleys, 
together with the mountain slopes adjoining. The 
Hagerstown valley has a width of about 20 miles 
and contains a large number of excellent farms. 
The soils are red or yellow clay loams or clays derived 
from the weathering of the thick beds of limestone 
that occur there. These soils, by careful cultivation, 
produce large crops of wheat, corn and grass. Thirty- 
five bushels of wheat per acre is not an uncommon 
yield, and from 50 to 100 bushels of corn can be 
raised. The railroad facilities are good in the valley, 
and Hagerstown, a prosperous manufacturing city, 



Central and Western 41 

is situated in the center of the region. In addition 
to the large production of wheat and com many cattle 
are annually fattened. 

Along the eastern margin of this valley is the center 
of the famous mountain peach industry. So excellent 
are the shipping facilities that peaches picked in the 
late afternoon are on sale in the New York markets 
the next morning. 

The smaller valleys, of which the Middletown 
valley is the most important, contain good soils,, 
mostly heavy loams and clays well adapted to raising 
corn, wheat and grass, which are the principal crops 
grown. 

The central district is rough and mountainous, and 
the greater portion is thickly wooded and not well 
adapted to farming purposes. The soils of the moun- 
tain ridges are thin and stony and difficult to culti- 
vate. There are, however, some valleys in this region 
that possess limestone soils that are fertile and can 
be made quite productive. The largest of these 
valleys lies 12 miles east of Cumberland, and the 
strong clay soils produce good crops of wheat and 
timothy hay. Other valleys of this region possess 
shale soils, which can be made productive, and there 
are also large areas of hill pasture land which con- 
tain shale soils. Along the Potomac river and some 
of the larger creeks, especially near Cumberland, there 
are large tracts of alluvial bottom-lands which an- 
nually make good yields of the staple crops. Fruit 
growing has lately been introduced in the hilly region 
east of Cumberland, and there are already many large 
and profitable peach orchards. Oats, buckwheat, 
wheat, rye and potatoes are the main crops grown 
in this part of the State. 

The western district comprises the Allegany 
Plateau. The soils may be classed as the red sand- 



42 The State of Maryland 

stone and shale soils, the yellow sandstone soils, the 
rough stony soils of the mountain ridges and the 
"glades" or mountain swamp lands. 

The red sandstone soils occupy large areas in the 
central portion of Garrett county, and the yield o^ 
crops produced on these soils compares favorably with 
the best class of soils found in the entire State. The 
soil is a heavy red loam that grades into red clay 
loams. These soils occupy rolling valley lands, and 
produce good crops of wheat, corn, oats and buck- 
wheat. The Cove country, as it is called in northwest 
Garrett county, has long been noted as a fine farming 
section, and there are still large areas of these fine 
soils which can be made fully as productive and pros- 
perous as the section just mentioned. 

The yellow sandstone soils comprise the greater 
portion of Garrett county and the George's Creek 
valley, in Allegany county, and may be classed as 
heavy sandy loams. They produce good yields of 
buckwheat, wheat, oats, hay and corn. In the native 
forest the sugar-maple abounds, and a large income is 
derived from the sale of maple sugar each spring. 
These lands are also good pasture lands in addition 
to being well adapted to apple orchards. 

The stony mountain soils include the shallow soils 
found along the crests and sides of the principal 
mountain ridges of this region. The soils are thin 
and stony, difficult to till and not adapted to general 
farming purposes. They are not extensively cleared, 
and are covered in many places with valuable tracts 
of merchantable timber, especially chestnut. 

The "glades" are large swampy tracts of land which 
occur principally in the central portion of the county. 
Formerly the glades were famous cattle pastures 
during the dry seasons, but now large tracts of glade 
lands have been thoroughly drained and the soils. 



Lands, Products and Industries 



43 



rich in decayed organic matter, produce good crops 
of oats, timothy and even corn and wheat. 

In conclusion it may he stated that Maryland has 
a great variety of soils which are adapted to almost 
any crops that will grow in this section of the United 
States. The greater portion of the arable land of the 
State is under cultivation and farmed at a fair profit, 
but there are extensive areas, especially in Western 
and Southern Maryland, where there is room for great 
agricultural development. 

The following table shows the annual crop produc- 
tion of Maryland at the present time. The figures 
have been furnished in part by the United States 
Department of Agriculture from statistics secured in 
1899, and in part by the Maryland Agricultural College 
from data obtained in the progress of their investiga- 
tions in the State: 











Yield 




Acreage. 


Production. 


Value. ] 


per Acre 




Acres. 


Bushels. 


Dollars. 


Bushels. 


Corn 


580,076 


18,562,432 


$6,682,476 


32.0 


Wheat 


759,643 


10,710,966 


7,283,457 


14.1 


Oats 


72,852 


1,675,596 


502,679 


23.0 


Rye 


25,234 


353,276 


201,367 


14.0 


Buckwheat 


7,510 


97,630 


54,673 


13.0 


Potatoes. . 


22,193 


1,420,352 


724,380 


64.0 


Hay 


282,992 


319,781 tons. 


3,885,339 


1.13 tons. 


Tobacco. . . 


35,000 


21,000,000 lbs. 


1,410,000 


600 lbs. 



CHAPTER IV 

THE CHESAPEAKE BAY 



The most valuable of the possessions of Maryland, 
more valuable than its farms and fields and its for- 
ests, more valuable than its mines and quarries, is the 
Chesapeake bay. This magnificent sheet of water 
penetrates the State from its southern border almost 
to the border of Pennsylvania. Its estuaries stretch 
from either side far into the interior, making a natu- 
ral highway for the commerce of the world to pene- 
trate farther inland than it can do elsewhere in the 
United States, for this is the largest arm of the ocean 
within the boundaries of the Union. Baltimore, situ- 
ated 200 miles inland from the ocean, is the seaport 
of the United States which is nearest the great wheat 
and corn fields of the Central Mississippi valley. Not 
only does this bay, of an average width of twenty 
miles and of great depth, furnish a highway for the 
world's commerce to reach the metropolis of Mary- 
land, but upon its broad bosom and upon its magnifi- 
cent tributaries fioat a fieet of vessels, steamboats and 
sailing vessels, bearing to market in Baltimore the 
rich products of the whole tidewater region of Mary- 
land and Virginia and portions cf Delaware and North 
Carolina. This bay traflac, mo i, of which lands at Light 
Street wharf in Baltimore, is of enormous propor- 
tions. Upon four blocks of that busy street is concen- 
trated perhaps the largest oyster trade and the largest 
peach trade that is to be found in any one center in 
the world. In the same vicinity there is discharged 



The Blue Chesapeake 45 

from lines of steamers plying to South and Central 
America and the West Indies a vast quantity of trop- 
ical fruits, v/hich are distributed from that wharf to 
the various States of the Union. The bay and the 
rivers flowing into it afford an avenue to market for 
the products of all the counties of Maryland but seven. 
Talbot county is so penetrated by navigable rivers and 
creeks that almost every farm has a landing where it 
can load its crops on a vessel to be carried to Balti- 
more. Many of the other counties, notably Kent, 
Queen Anne's, Dorchester, Somerset and St. Mary's, 
are also penetrated at many places by navigable 
streams. 

The Chesapeake bay is 200 miles long, with a maxi- 
mum width of 40 miles and an average of less than 20. 
About three-fourths of it lie within the boundaries of 
Maryland, the lower part and the mouth being in Vir- 
ginia. The principal rivers which flow into it from the 
eastern side in Maryland are the Elk, Sassafras, Ches- 
ter, Choptank, Miles, Nanticoke, Wicomico and Poco- 
moke. From the western side are the Patapsco, Gun- 
powder, Severn, West, South, Patuxent and Potomac. 
Into nearly every one of these rivers other navigable 
rivers, creeks or inlets flow. Large vessels, for in- 
stance, are admitted into the center of St. Mary's 
county by Breton's bay, St. George's bay, St. Clem- 
ent's bay, St. Mary's river, the Wicomico river, all of 
them tributaries of the Potomac. Into the head of 
the bay flows the majestic Susquehanna, a mile wide, 
dividing Cecil from Harford counties, and navigable 
up to Port Deposit, in Cecil county, the seat of the 
great Tome Institute. All along the shore of the 
Chesapeake and its rivers are the market gardens 
which supply the markets of Baltimore, Washington, 
Norfolk and, to a certain extent, Philadelphia and 
New York, with vegetables and small fruit and ber- 
ries. 



46 The State of Maryland 

But it is not only as a liighway for commerce that 
tlie Cliesapeake waters are valuable to Maryland. 
Upon the bosom of the bay and rivers swarm innumer- 
able water fowl, and among them are the famous 
canvasback ducks and others almost as highly prized, 
which resort to the shores and marshes for wild cel- 
ery, their favorite food, which imparts to their flesh 
the delicate flavor that makes them so highly es- 
teemed. There are also wild geese, and in the marshes 
there are myriads of railbirds, reedbirds and ortolans. 
The waters teem with the most delicious food fishes, 
the taking of which gives employment to great num- 
bers of men and boats. On the shores of the Potomac 
are hauled in seines quantities of Potomac herring, 
which, when salted, are highly valued and are mar- 
keted all over the country. In the Susquehanna and 
the bay in the spring countless shad are taken. Other 
bay fish are the white perch, rock, mackerel, croakers, 
taylors or green fish, hog fish, fiounders and innumer- 
able other varieties. 

The area of the portion of the Chesapeake and its 
tributaries which lies in Maryland is over two thou- 
sand square miles. Of this great area fully one-half, 
or 640,000 acres, is capable of producing oysters, and 
123,000 acres are natural oyster beds. In the last half 
century, it is estimated that fully four hundred mil- 
lion bushels of oysters have been taken from the 
waters of Maryland. Prof. W. K. Brooks, of the Hop- 
kins, in his work on the oyster, which is the standard 
authority on the subject, estimates that by cultivation 
this amount can be taken each year. At the moderate 
estimate of 50 cents a bushel, this product would be 
worth $200,000,000, or twenty times as much as the 
wheat fields of the State produce, and ten times as 
much as all the staple crops of the State fetch in the 
markets. It Is conceded that the Chesapeake bay is 



Submarine Wealth 47 

the finest water in the world for the production of 
oysters. The waters are teeming with the spat, and 
it is only necessary to supply "clutch" for it to attach 
itself to and grow. This is provided by spreading oys- 
ter shells upon the bottoms. "The Chesapeake bay," 
says Professor Brooks, "is one of the richest agricul- 
tural regions of the earth, and its fertility can be 
compared only with that of the valleys of the Nile and 
the Ganges and other great rivers. It owes its fertility 
to the very same causes as those which have enabled 
the Nile valley to support a dense human population 
for untold ages without any loss of fertility; but it is 
adopted for producing only one crop — the oyster." 

OYSTEE PLANTING. 

At the session of the General Assembly of Maryland 
in 1906 a law was enacted under which the bottoms 
of the bay and rivers are to be divided into lots and 
leased by the State to citizens for the cultivation of 
oysters. By this law a most profitable occupation will 
be opened to thousands of people, who will be engaged 
in raising oysters, planting, taking them from the 
bottoms, carrying them to market, shucking, packing, 
transporting them and selling them. Lots in county 
waters as small as one acre can be leased, and as small 
as five acres in waters outside county boundaries. No 
one person can acquire more than ten acres in county 
waters, nor more than 100 acres in the open waters of 
the bay. The term of the leases is twenty years, and 
the rentals payable to the State are |1 per acre per 
year for the first two years, $2 per acre for the third, 
$3 for the fourth, $4 for the fifth, and after that $5 
per acre per year. The rentals, after payment of the 
cost of administering the law, are to be applied to 
making roads throughout the State. If the reasonable 
expectations of those who proposed and enacted this 



48 The State of Maryland 

law are fulfilled, then Maryland will become one of 
tlie wealthiest and most prosperous States of the 
Union, with an enormous increase in population. The 
natural oyster beds are not now producing more than 
five or ten million bushels a year. And yet that out- 
put gives employment to an army of men, women and 
children and to a great fleet of vessels and canoes, and 
constitutes the largest single industry in the State 
except farming. To increase the yield of oysters ten 
or twenty-fold will make all other occupations seem 
small in proportion. The profits of oyster planting are 
enormous. In his book Dr. Brooks tells of a "farmer" 
in Virginia who, on 70 acres of bottom near the Mary- 
land line, raised a crop of more than 300,000 bushels of 
fine oysters. The new law, it is expected, will open the 
way for men of small means to take up from one to 
ten acres of bottom near the shore, upon which they 
can spread shells in the summer season at small ex- 
pense, and after the second year make an annual profit 
of $400 and upwards to the acre. 

While it is true that the oyster industry in Mary- 
land has greatly diminished in volume, it is still one 
of the chief industries in the State. In the season of 
1901-2 the oyster product of the State was 3,725,000 
bushels, worth in the market $2,400,000. In 1880 the 
product was 10,500,000 bushels. 

According to the figures collected by the United 
States Fish Commission in 1902, the number of per- 
sons engaged in the Maryland oyster industry were 
31,543, of whom about 20,000 were fishermen, and the 
remaining 11,000 were employed in the packing 
houses. The larger vessels used in dredging or trans- 
portation numbered 1,326, the smaller vessels used by 
tongers numbered 6,548. Total, 7,874 vessels of all 
kinds. 

In the products of the bay the crabs, hard and soft, 
occupy an important place. The chief center of this 



Shad Fisheries 49 

industry is at Crisfield, in Somerset county, and it has 
been estimated that $1,000,000 worth of crabs are 
shipped each year from that town. All along the bay 
shore in the rivers great numbers of crabs are caught, 
and the aggregate is very large. The taking of fish 
and their shipment to market also gives employment 
to many persons and brings in a great sum of money. 

FISHERIES. 

The Fish Commission empty into the Chesapeake 
bay and its tributaries each year from 65,000,000 to 
75,000,000 young fish to support the shad fisheries of 
the State, which depend upon the return of the adult 
shad in the spring of the year. It is estimated that 
2,250,000 or more shad are secured from Maryland 
waters each year. About 750,000 of these are obtained 
from the Potomac, 330,000 from the Pocomoke and 
Tangier sound tributaries, 50,000 from the Patuxent, 
350,000 from the Choptank and its tributaries, 50,000 
from the Chester, while 650,000 are taken on the 
shores of the Chesapeake and its smaller tributaries, 
leaving 70,000 or more to be secured from the Susque- 
hanna. 

The principal shad region of the bay shore lies 
north of Swan Point, between it and the lower stretch- 
es of the Susquehanna. This area yields fully a quar- 
ter of the entire season's catch. The principal landing 
points for the bay shore fisheries are Havre de Grace, 
North East, Charlestown, Betterton and Rock Hall. 
The Choptank, as above indicated, furnishes^ about 
one-sixth of the entire catch, while the other rivers 
with the exception of the Potomac, are of less impor- 
tance. The latter stream yields a catch equalling or 
surpassing that of the head of the bay. 

The season begins about the first of April, and ex- 
tends to the last of May or the first of June. The 
largest catches are usually in April. 



50 The State of Maryland 

The figures for the Potomac are somewhat difficult, 
to determine, since by the compact of 1785 the fishery- 
rights in the river exist in common between the citi- 
zens of Virginia and Maryland, who land their catch 
in their respective States. In 1896 fully two-thirds of 
the Potomac catch was landed on the Virginia shore. 
The total annual catch within the State is estimated 
to have a value of about $200,000. 

The menhaden is by far the most abundant fish 
along the Atlantic coast of the United States, and in 
many ways one of the most important, but since it is 
not usually regarded as edible it is little known out- 
side of the fishery and fertilizing industries. The men- 
haden is a small fish, seldom weighing a pound, and 
closely related to the herring and the shad. It usually 
makes its appearance in Chesapeake bay early in the 
spring, and rapidly becomes more and more abundant, 
crowding into the sounds and inlets until the water 
is fairly alive with them. They remain as long as the 
weather is warm, but as the winter approaches they 
pass out into the ocean, so that few are found in the 
Chesapeake bay after November. 

They are of great commercial importance from the 
fact that a valuable oil can be extracted from their 
bodies by pressure, while the solid residue is an im- 
portant constituent of manufactured fertilizers. In a 
single year the catch in Chesapeake bay has been as 
high as 92,000,000 pounds, which has yielded 214,000 
gallons of oil, worth $85,000; 10,500 tons of guano, 
worth $210,000; 212,000 tons of compost, worth $19,000, 
or an annual product worth more than $300,000. 

The number of hard-shell crabs caught in Maryland 
each year has been estimated at 750,000 bushels. 

At the principal crab-canning centers of Oxford, 
Cambridge and Crisfield, about 350,000 bushels of the 
catch are picked and canned, yielding over 200,000 



The Diamond Back 51 

gallons of crab meat annually. The crabs, during the 
few hours when their shells are soft, take no food and 
hide themselves in the sand or grass, so that soft-shell 
crabs are much less abundant and bring a higher 
price than the hard-shell. Moreover, when the crab is 
soft it is very delicate and easily killed, and is thus 
transported alive with difficulty. The irregularities 
in the daily catch which might arise under these 
adverse circumstances are avoided by the use of "shed- 
ding pens," which hold the "shedders" until they are 
soft. An experienced fisherman can tell at a glance 
the yellowish female and browner males that are 
about to shed their shells. The price of crabs grows 
rapidly from ten cents a dozen when they are put in 
the pens to thirty, forty or fifty cents when they are 
put on the market as soft-shell crabs. 

The estimated catch each year is 700,000 dozen, val- 
ued at from $300,000 to $350,000. 

Terrapin. — The oyster and the crab suggest the 
terrapin as a third characteristic product of the shores 
of the Chesapeake. This expensive little tortoise ranges 
from New England to Texas, but is most abundant in 
the marshy lands from the Chesapeake southward. 
The terrapin is most easily caught in the summer, 
when the demand is slight, so the catch is "farmed" 
In pens and fed with crabs and fish until the winter, 
when as a delicacy the terrapin brings from $2.50 to 
$75.00 per dozen. The value of the annual output for 
the State is estimated at $50,000. 

No account is given in the preceding pages of the 
water products of the ocean front along the shores of 
Worcester county, although the output of oysters and 
fish from this part of the State reaches considerable 
proportions. It was found impossible to secure any 
satisfactory information. 

The subjoined table presents in condensed form 
what is regarded as a fair estimate of the annual catch 



52 The State of Maryland 

in the Chesapeake, and its value for each of the 
species mentioned: 

Oysters 5,000,000 bush. $3,500,000 

Shad 2,250,000 fish 200,000 

Menhaden 92,000,000 lbs. 300,000 

Mackerel 1,200,000 lbs. 120,000 

Bay Trout 11,100,000 lbs. 450,000 

Blue Fish 4,400,000 lbs. 260,000 

White Perch 14,000,000 lbs. 1,120,000 

Yellow Perch 11,000,000 lbs. 440,000 

Fresh Herring 100,000,000 lbs. 1,000,000 

Rock Fish 14,000,000 lbs. 1,400,000 

Mixed Fish (Flounders, 

Pike, Pickerel, etc.).. 10,000,000 lbs. 500,000 

Hard-Shell Crabs 750,000 bush. 340,000 

Soft-Shell Crabs 700,000 doz. 325,000 

Terrapin 50,000 

Clams 5,000,000 15,000 

Total $10,020,000 

TAXABLE BASIS FOR STATE TAX OF MARY- 
LAND, 1906. 

Tax Rate Assessment 

Counties and City. 1905. 1906. 

Allegany $1.04 $18,928,409 

Anne Arundel .73 12,208,880 

Baltimore City (lOOG) 2.00 432,257,664 

Baltimore .64 87,670,777 

Calvert ,97 2,329,117 

Caroline 1.00 5,256,170 

Carroll .45 16,506,716 

Cecil 1.20 11,951,176 

Charles 1.09 3,480,981 

Dorchester 1.06% 7,017,255 

Frederick .89 20,761.114 

Garrett 1.37 7,297,986 

Harford 1.00 13,119,837 

Howard .75 9,394,320 

Kent (1905) 1.15 7,618,879 

Montgomery .QOy^ 13,433,015 

Prince George's .90 12,104,537 

Queen Anne's .90 8,616,395 

St. Mary's .00 3,297,369 

Somerset 1.02 Va 5,027,537 

Talbot .85 8,575,725 

Washington .05 20,127,031 

Wicomico .79% 6,246,867 

Worcester (1905) 1.00 6,317,700 

$738,545,457 



state Debt and Taxes 53 

FINANCIAL CONDITION. 

Hardly a State in the Union is in a better financial 
condition or has a lower tax rate for State purposes 
than the State of Maryland. The State is, in effect, 
free from debt, and no State tax is levied for the sup- 
port of the State government. The government is 
supported by a tax upon the gross receipts of cor- 
porations and by a license tax. The tax upon property 
levied for 1907 and 1908 is 16 cents on the $100. This 
tax produces nearly $1,200,000, all of which is appro- 
priated to the public schools. In addition to this, 
about twice as much more, or $2,500,000, is produced 
by local taxation for school purposes. The State has 
bonds outstanding to the amount of a little more than 
$3,000,000. But in the sinking fund there are pro- 
ductive securities of considerable greater amount, the 
revenues from which are more than sufficient to pay 
the annual interest on the debt, and which will be 
more than sufficient to pay the debt at maturity. The 
assessed value of the property in the State subject to 
State taxation in 1905 was $705,561,456. The basis 
for 1906 and 1907 is considerably larger. 



CHAPTER V 

AN OUTLINE OF HISTORY 



While it is no part of the purpose of this book to 
deal with the history of the State, it cannot be out 
of place to reproduce here the speech of His Excel- 
lency Edwin Warfield, Governor of Maryland, de- 
livered at the St. Louis Fair on Maryland Day — Sep- 
tember 12, 1904. It pays so just a tribute to the 
achievements of the people of his native State and 
recounts so many incidents of national interest and 
Importance that its reproduction needs no apology. 
Governor Warfield said in part: 

"We have come on this 12th of September because 
it is one of the proudest and most sacred days in 
Maryland annals. It is the anniversary of the battle 
of North Point, the battle that turned the tide against 
the triumphant British Army, saved Baltimore from 
destruction, and virtually ended the war of 1812. It 
is known and celebrated by us as 'Old Defenders' 
Day,' and has for 90 years been annually observed 
In honor of the valor of our citizen soldiers. 

"The British Army, under command of General 
Ross, having captured and sacked Washington city 
and laid the Capitol in ashes, sailed up the Chesapeake 
bay with their combined military and naval forces 
for the purpose of destroying Baltimore. 

"Their general, Ross, was killed by sharpshooters, 
and our citizen soldiers met the British and repulsed 
and defeated them. 



The Star=Spang!ed Banner 55 

"Following up the attack, the British vessels, on 
the next day, made an attempt to tal^e the city of 
Baltimore by bombardment from the ships. All night 
long there was fierce and constant cannonading, to 
which the defenders in Fort McHenry and from other 
temporary forts along the waterside replied with 
spirit. 

WHERE KEY COMPOSED THE NATIONAL ANTHEM. 

"It was during this bombardment that Francis 
Scott Key, a son of Maryland, who was detained on 
the flagship of Admiral Cochrane, where he had gone 
under a flag of truce to procure the release of a friend, 
composed 'The Star-Spangled Banner,' the national 
anthem of our country. 

"All during the dark hours of that night he waited 
and watched with anxiety the outcome of the battle. 
At one time his heart sank in him, as it seemed that 
Fort McHenry had been silenced. 

"We can appreciate his anxiety because he realized 
that, if such were the case, the fate of Baltimore 
would be the fate of the nation's capital. With eager- 
ness he watched the dawn of day, that he might see 
whether the flag was still flying. It was during these 
trying moments that he wrote the immortal verses 
which have been so touchingly declaimed here today 
by one of our fair and gifted daughters. 

"The lines were written in pencil on the back of 
an envelope whilst leaning on the top of a barrel on 
the deck of the British ship. He carried them with 
him to the city when he was released, had them 
adapted to the tune already existing, and they were 
sung to the public for the first time in the city o£ 
Baltimore. The success of this ?iong, written under 
such stress of patriotism, was great. 'The Star- 
Spangled Banner' has taken its place as our beloved 
national anthem. 



56 The State of Maryland 

"A noted Maryland orator, referring to this his- 
torical incident, said: 

" 'The Stars and Stripes themselves had streamed 
at the front of two wars before the kindling genius 
of a Maryland man, exercised in the white heat of 
battle, translated the dumb symbol of national senti- 
ment into a living voice, and made it the sublime 
and harmonious interpreter of a nation's progress 
and power.' 

mabyland's service to the nation. 

"The people of the United States owe to the State 
of Maryland a great debt for the part she played in 
establishing our independence and the formation of 
the Union. 

"It was her bold, determined and unswerving stand 
against the ratification of the Articles of Confedera- 
tion that resulted in the cession to the United States 
of v/hat was then known as the Northwest territory. 

"Many of the original colonies which had received 
charters from the Crown believed that there were no 
set boundaries at the west, and that their grants 
extended to the 'Western waters.' New York, Massa- 
chusetts, Connecticut and Virginia were foremost in 
making such claims. Virginia, whose charter ante- 
dated all others, had the best title to the lands in 
dispute. Hence she was the most tenacious in her 
claims. 

"The other States naturally felt that, as these 
larger States grew and waxed powerful, they might 
tyrannize over their smaller neighbors. 

"Of all these protesting States, it was Maryland 
alone that rose to the occasion and suggested an idea 
which at first seemed startling, but which became a 
fixed fact, from which mighty and unforeseen conse- 
quences afterward flowed. 




I 



-'^m 



Maryland and Public Lands 57 

"The Articles of Confederation were about to be 
presented to the respective States for ratification, 
when the question naturally arose as to how the 
conflicting claims to these Western lands should be 
settled. 

"A Marylander, Daniel Carroll, offered in Congress 
a resolution that 

" 'The United States, in Congress assembled, should 
have the sole and exclusive right and power to ascer- 
tain and fix the western boundary of such States as 
claimed to the Mississippi, and lay out the land so 
ascertained into separate and independent States 
from time to time as the number and circumstances 
of the people may require.' 

"To carry out this motion it was necessary for the 
States claiming this Western territory to surrender 
their claims into the hands of the United States, and 
thus create a domain which should be owned by the 
Confederation in common. 

"This was a bold step taken by Maryland, and was 
considered to smack somewhat of centralization of 
power. Maryland was the only State that voted for 
it. She stood firm, pursued her purpose resolutely, 
and was rewarded with complete success. 

"New York, Virginia, Connecticut and Massachu- 
setts finally ceded their title to these lands, and Mary- 
land ratified the Confederation, having first secured 
as the common property of the United States all of 
the immense territory which has since been parceled 
out and established by Congress into the free and 
fertile States of Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Michigan and 
Wisconsin. 

"Thus the Confederation was perfected, the Union 
preserved, and this great territory was saved for the 
benefit of the whole united people. 

"Maryland, by taking the stand she did and leading 
the way in this fight, laid the corner-stone of our 
Federal Union. * * • 



« 
58 The State of Maryland 

THE STORY OF MARYLAND. 

"We Marylanders are proud of the history of our 
State, and venerate the deeds of our forefathers. 
Therefore I ask your indulgence whilst I briefly tell 
you the story of Maryland. She stands as the seventh 
in the original galaxy of thirteen States, because she 
was the seventh to adopt the Constitution forming 
the permanent Union. The very foundation of the 
colony of Maryland was of national importance, be- 
cause the principle of religious toleration was intro- 
duced by the founder. From the time of the landing 
at St. Mary's until today liberty of conscience has 
been the fundamental right of every person in 
Maryland. 

"Much has been written upon the subject of the 
Act of Toleration of 1649. The true history may be 
briefly stated. Cecilius Calvert, being vested with 
extraordinary power over a great territory, deter- 
mined to found there a free English State, where all 
the rights and liberties of every English freeman 
would be protected. To do this he divested himself 
and his heirs of the princely prerogatives granted 
to him by his charter. He caused to be drafted at 
home, and then adopted by the freemen of Maryland, 
codes of laws which transferred English institutions 
to Maryland. By orders, proclamations and condi- 
tions of plantation he strengthened and fortifled 
these institutions thus transplanted. Believing that 
Magna Charta and the right of petition guaranteed 
every Englishman the right to liberty of person and 
security of property, he was wise enough to see and 
brave enough to declare that these rights were worth- 
less without liberty of conscience. 

"He therefore adopted and declared that to be the 
principle on which the foundations of Maryland 
should be laid. From the flrst he intended to secure 



Popular Government 59 

all those rights, privileges and franchises, not alone 
to Roman Catholics, nor yet alone to Englishmen, 
but to all Christian people of all the nations of the 
world. 

"In doing this he was supported by the whole social 
influence of the Roman Catholics of England and by 
the power of the Society of Jesus. 

"Under this institution the Puritans settled at 
Providence, the Quakers at West River and the Pres- 
byterians on the Patuxent. It gave shelter to the 
Huguenots after the massacre of St. Bartholomew, 
and to Roman Catholics from the murders and burn- 
ings of San Domingo. 

"Notwithstanding its repeated external overthrow 
by force or faction, it has always been imbedded in 
the life of the people. In the wars, insurrections, 
revolutions, rebellions and civil broils which swept 
the province in its earlier days, neither life, liberty 
nor property has ever been sacrificed in the fury of 
religious fanaticism. Blood has been shed in the 
struggles of factions, but no man has ever been put 
to death on account of his religion in Maryland. 

"The growth of popular government was early 
manifested in Colonial Maryland. In the very first As- 
sembly, in 1635, every freeman was entitled to a seat 
and voice in the proceedings. The second Assembly 
was held in 1637, and the freemen rejected the code 
of laws offered by Lord Baltimore, although liberal 
and just, claiming the right to originate legislation 
for themselves. Thus began the fight in Maryland 
for the rights of freemen. 

BURNING OF THE PEGGY STEWART. 

"In all of the movements that led up to the Declara- 
tion of Independence and the Revolutionary War 
Maryland stood in the forefront. The first overt act 
of her people against the authority of the King of 



60 The State of Maryland 

England was on October 19, 1774, when her fearless 
patriots compelled Anthony Stewart to burn his brig, 
the Peggy Stewart, with her cargo of tea, in the 
harbor of Annapolis. This was done in broad day- 
light, by men undisguised, whose motto was 'Liberty, 
or death in the pursuit of it.' 

"On October 17, 1774, the brig Peggy Stewart arrived 
at Annapolis from London with over a ton of tea, 
that plant so detested by every patriotic colonist. 
Upon examination it was found that the importation 
was projected by Williams and Stewart, merchants, 
and that Mr. Anthony Stewart, proprietor of the 
vessel, had paid the duty thereon. This was con- 
sidered a flagrant violation of the non-importation 
agreement and aroused a bitter resentment upon 
the part of the citizens of Annapolis, who at once 
appointed a committee to prevent the landing of the 
tea until the sense of the country people could be 
fully ascertained. Handbills under the direction of 
Mathias Hammond were distributed throughout the 
county calling upon all patriotic citizens to assemble 
in Annapolis on Wednesday, October 19, for the pur- 
pose of taking final action. 

"Mr. Stewart, being apprehensive as to what so 
numerous a body from the country, from whom he 
had much to fear, might do, urged that the meeting 
of the citizens of Annapolis be held on the Monday 
previous. It was also proposed by some that Messrs. 
Williams and Stewart, who were desirous of making 
atonement for the offense they had committed, might 
be permitted to land and burn the tea at any place 
that should be appointed for that purpose. 

"This motion, however, was strongly opposed. 
Messrs. Williams and Stewart acknowledging the 
impropriety of their act, signed an apology couched 
in the most abject terms. 



The Peggy Stewart 61 

"On Wednesday, as expected, a large number of 
people from the country districts, assembled in 
Annapolis, and to the assembled multitude the 
apology was read. But it failed to satisfy the 
country people. Mr. Stewart, because of his ready 
compliance with the abhorred act of the British 
government, was specially obnoxious to them. Some 
were disposed to tar and feather him. Others were 
in favor of the destruction of the brig; still others 
declared that the paper signed by Stewart was suffi- 
cient punishment and satisfaction. 

"To determine this point it was determined to take 
a vote; whether the vessel should or should not be 
destroyed? 

"Seven-eighths of those present voted against such 
violent measures. The minority, however, who were 
chiefly persons residing at a distance from Annapolis, 
and who were men of great influence in their respec- 
tive neighborhoods, declared a determination to 
proceed to the utmost extremities. 

"Mr. Stev/art became alarmed, fearing the con- 
sequences from the minority, and to secure his own 
personal safety, proposed setting fire himself to the 
vessel. This was immediately assented to by the 
minority. 

"He therefore repaired on board, accompanied by 
several gentlemen of the minority, who thought it 
necessary to attend him, and having directed her 
to be run aground near Windmill Point, he put the 
torch to his valuable property and in a few hours 
it, with its sails, cordage and every appurtenance 
and cargo was effectually burned. 

"Who was the leader of that fearless minority 
which forced Stewart to set fire to his vessel and 
compelled the majority, composed of residents of 
Annapolis and the immediate vicinity to acquiesce? 



62 The State of Maryland 

"It was Dr. Charles Alexander Warfield. He led 
that small band of patriots from the back hills, 
who were determined to give evidence of the spirit 
that prevailed in Maryland and to teach the British 
government what resistence it would meet if it per- 
sisted in taxing the people of the colonies without 
their consent. * * * 

"Charles Alexander Warfield, v/hose immigrant 
ancestor had settled in Maryland in 1660, was born 
on December 14, 1751. He was a son of Azel 
Warfield. His mother was Sarah Grifiith, daughter 
of Capt. Charles Grifiith. He graduated in Medicine 
in Philadelphia, and was married in 1771 to 
Elizabeth, daughter of Major Henry Ridgely, whose 
dower was Bushy Park in Howard county, con- 
taining 1300 acres. Dr. Warfield became a leading 
citizen and physician of our State. He was First 
Major of the Elk Ridge Battalion in 1776. He was 
one of the founders of the Medical and Chirurgical 
Faculty of Maryland and first President of the Mary- 
land University School of Medicine. He died 
January 21, 1813. 

"Thomas Johnson, of Maryland, nominated George 
Washington in the Continental Congress to be Com- 
mander-in-Chief of the American Army. 

"The Maryland Riflemen, under Michael Cresap, 
were the first organized troops to respond to the call 
of liberty. They fought side by side with the Puritans 
of Massachusetts at Concord and Lexington. 

"It was Maryland's 'Four Hundred,' under the in- 
trepid Gist, who, after six successive bayonet charges, 
saved Washington's army at Long Island in August, 
1776. The greatest crisis in that battle was the superb 
action of these immortal Marylanders. They held 
the British army of 4,000 in check until the Americans 
moved across to the Jersey shore. Tv/o hundred and 
sixty-seven of their number were killed or wounded. 



Tench Tilghman's Ride 63 

"Their bravery and heroism caused General Wash- 
ington to exclaim, 'Great God! what brave men I must 
this day lose.' 

"The 'Maryland Line,' under command of Colonel 
Smallwood, composed Washington's rear guard in 
his masterly retreat through New Jersey. 

"Maryland soldiers participated in every hard- 
fought battle of the Revolution, from Long Island to 
Yorktown, and were especially distinguished for 
bravery at Camden, Eutaw Springs, Guilford Court- 
house, Hobkirk's Hill and Cowpens. They were the 
'Old Guard' of the Continental forces, 'the bayonets 
of the Revolution.' 

COLONEL tilghman's FAMOUS RIDE. 

"It was a son of Maryland, Col. Tench Tilghman, 
Washington's aide, who rode from Yorktown to Phil- 
adelphia, carrying the news of Cornwallis' surrender 
to the Continental Congress. He crossed the Chesa- 
peake bay to the Eastern Shore of Maryland in an 
open boat, where, procuring a horse, he started on 
his way, riding in the dim watches of the night. When 
his horse gave out he would ride up to a house and 
call out, 'A horse for the Congress, Cornwallis is 
taken.' There was a flash of light, a patter of glad 
feet, a welcome and a godspeed. This was repeated 
time and again, until finally, thundering into Phila- 
delphia at midnight. Independence bell was rung, 
Congress convened, and the watchman on his round 
proclaimed, 'Twelve o'clock; all's well, and Cornwallis 
is taken.' 

"Maryland has taken a foremost place in our wars 
since the Revolution, and in every movement for 
the advancement of liberty, the welfare of the people 
and the maintenance of the peace, prestige and 
dignity of our government. 



64 The State of Maryland 

"She contributed more money and men for the 
war of 1812 than any other State. The annals of that 
war show that of the 240 naval oflacers who served 
on our ships Maryland furnished 46, nearly one-fifth, 
and more than any other State; all of the New Eng- 
land States together sending only 42, and New York 
but 17. And in the number of privateers sent out to 
prey upon British commerce Baltimore headed the 
list of cities. 

"Her quota of volunteers for the Mexican war was 
promptly recruited. They were a brave band of 
soldiers, and won glory for their State. When General 
Taylor called for 'a little more grape, Captain Bragg,' 
it was Ringgold's Flying Artillery (from Marylaiid) 
that furnished the grape. 

"In 1860 Maryland's electoral vote was cast for 
Breckinridge and Lane. Although a majority of her 
most substantial citizens sympathized with the cause 
of the South, she refused to secede from the Union. 
Her sons were divided in the contest. Those who 
wore the gray believed that the South was right, 
and, so believing, fought bravely, and endured suffer- 
ings and privations for the faith that was in them and 
the cause they espoused. So with those who volun- 
teered to sustain the Union. Maryland honors the 
valor of all of her sons, those who v/ore the gray as 
well as those who wore the blue. 

"Maryland's quota pf volunteers for the Spanish 
war was quickly furnished. Her National Guard re- 
sponded enthusiastically, each regiment clamoring 
to be sent to the front. 

"Maryland took the initiative in many important 
matters of legislation. She passed the first law to 
naturalize a foreign-born citizen. She was the first 
State to recognize by law the possibility of steam 
navigation. She did this by granting to James Rum- 



Cradle of the Church 65 

sey the exclusive right of steam navigation in the 
waters of the State. She was the first State, after 
Virginia, to embody in her form of government the 
famous Bill of Rights formulated by George Mason. 

"Many interesting historical events have taken 
place upon her soil. It was in the Senate Chamber 
in the old Capitol, now standing, at Annapolis, that 
Washington resigned his commission as commander- 
in-chief of the army and returned it to Congress and 
retired to private life — the sublimest act of his sub- 
lime life. 

"It was in that hallowed chamber that the treaty 
of peace with England, which ended the war, was 
ratified by Congress. , 

"It was in that same historic chamber that the 
initial convention was held to promote the organiza- 
tion of a more permanent government. It suggested 
the calling of a convention to formulate a Constitution 
and found the Union. 

"Maryland was the cradle of the Presbyterian 
Church in America. The first regularly constituted 
church of that denomination in the United States was 
erected at Rehoboth, Somerset county, now Wicomico 
county, with Rev. Francis Makemie as its first min- 
ister. Maryland was the only colony where the Pres- 
byterians could get toleration. 

"It was in Maryland that the first bishop consecrated 
in America resided — Right Rev. Thomas John Clag- 
gett. Bishop of the Diocese of Maryland, of the Epis- 
copal Church. 

"It was in Maryland that the Methodist Episcopal 
Church of America was established, and the first 
house of worship built by that now powerful Chris- 
tian denomination that has done so much for the 
upbuilding of both civilization and religion in this 
as well as in other countries. 



66 The State of Maryland 

"In Maryland is the oldest Roman Catholic diocese 
in the United States — ^the Archdiocese of Baltimore. 

"The first archbishop of that church in this country 
was a Marylander, and it is fitting that the name of 
Archbishop Carroll should be linked in State pride 
with that of his kinsman, Charles Carroll of Carroll- 
ton, the signer of the Declaration of Independence. 

"Thus it will be seen that upon Maryland's soil was 
first established in the United States these four great 
Christian churches, that have been such potential 
forces in shaping the destiny and greatness of our 
nation. 

"Not only has Maryland been the scene of historical 
events, but many of the important industrial, in- 
ventive and scientific conceptions have been born 
within her borders. 

FIBST STEAMBOAT FLOATED IN HER WATERS. 

"It was in Maryland waters that the first steamboat 
was floated. It was invented by a Marylander, James 
Rumsey, 25 years before Fulton launched the Clare- 
mont. General Washington, who witnessed the trial 
on the Potomac, gave a certificate of the success of 
the experiment. 

"It was in Maryland that the first steam railroad 
in America was built, and the first electric railway 
in the world was operated. It was in Maryland that 
the first iron plates for shipbuilding were made. It 
was in Maryland that the first telegraph line in the 
world was constructed, and the first water company 
and the first gas company were organized. It was a 
Marylander, Obed Hussey, who invented the first 
sickle knife for reapers, and the first perfect and 
successful self-raking reaper was invented by Owen 
Dorsey, of Howard county, Maryland. 

"The heraldic device of the Great Seal of Maryland 
discloses the fact that the supporters of the shield 



Lands, Products and Industries 67 

are a farmer and a fisherman. In the days of the 
province these two avocations were the only ones, 
and today they form the most important factors in 
the prosperity of the State. 

AS AN AGRICULTURAL STATE. 

"The agricultural products of the State amount to 
$43,823,419 annually. No more favored land for 
agricultural purposes can be found in the United 
States. While corn, wheat and tobacco are the staples, 
yet every product of the temperate zone can be pro- 
duced within her borders in the greatest abundance. 

"Of Maryland's total area of 12,210 square miles, 
2,350 are covered by the waters of the Chesapeake 
bay and its tributaries, which teem with terrapin, 
oysters, crabs and fish in almost endless variety, while 
to the swamps and the marshes annually come thou- 
sands of ducks, geese and other wild fowl. The value 
of the annual yield from the products of these waters 
is over $10,000,000." 



CHAPTER VI 

STATE OFFICIALS 



The Board of Public Works of Maryland, under 
whose auspices this volume is prepared for distribu- 
tion at the Jamestown Fair, is composed of the Gov- 
ernor, the Treasurer and the Comptroller of the 
Treasury. The present members of the Board are 
Governor Warfield, Treasurer Vandiver and Comptrol- 
ler Atkinson. 

GOVERNOR EDWIN WARFIELD. 

Mr. Edwin Warfield was born May 7, 1848, at "Oak- 
dale," Howard county, Maryland. His father was 
Albert G. Warfield, one of the leading citizens of the 
county, and his mother was a daughter of Colonel 
Gassaway Watkins, a distinguished soldier of the 
Revolutionary war, a member of the Maryland Line 
and its last surviving oflficer, who at the time of his 
death, in 1840, was president of the Maryland Society 
of the Cincinnati. His paternal and maternal an- 
cestors were among the first settlers of the State of 
Maryland, were prominent in the early colonial period 
and in all subsequent important political movements 
in the State and its government. He was educated in 
the public schools of Howard county and at St. Tim- 
othy's Hall, Catonsville, Md., but was prevented from 
obtaining a collegiate education by the civil war, in- 
volving, as it did, the emancipation of his father's 
slaves. At the age of 18 he began teaching school and 
studying law, and did both at the same time success- 
fully. 



Governor Warfield 69 

His first political position was that of Registrar of 
Wills of Howard county, to which, office he was ap- 
pointed in 1874 to fill a vacancy, and was unanimously 
nominated by the Democrats in 1875 and elected for 
a term of six years, leading his ticket in the popular 
vote. At the expiration of his term he declined re- 
election, preferring to take up the practice of law. 

In 1881 he was elected to the State Senate to suc- 
ceed Hon. Arthur P. Gorman, who had heen elected 
United States Senator; was re-elected in 1883, and 
made President of the State Senate in 1886. During 
his first two sessions he v/as a member of the most 
important committees. His rulings were made purely 
upon the merits of the questions and his decisions 
were never appealed from. 

President Cleveland appointed Mr. Warfield Sur- 
veyor of the Port of Baltimore on April 5, 1886. He 
made no application for this office, and was the un- 
opposed choice of his party. He entered upon his 
duties on the 1st of May, 1886, and served until the 
1st of May, 1890. Upon assuming the duties of this 
office he resigned as a member of the Democratic 
State Central Committee, in recognition of Mr. Cleve- 
land's known views as to the participation of his ap- 
pointees in politics. 

He became a member of the Democratic State Cen- 
tral Committee in 1878, and was chairman of the 
Executive Committee in 1885. In the Presidential 
contest of 1884 he was an active worker for Mr. Cleve- 
land, and rendered special services as a correspondent 
of the Democratic National Committee. 

Mr. Warfield in 1882 bought the Ellicott City Times. 
He edited this paper, in conjunction with the practice 
of law, until 1886. In 1886 he originated and organ- 
ized the meeting that resulted in the establishment 
of the Patapsco National Bank of Ellicott City. He 



70 The State of Maryland 

was a director in this institution until 1890, when he 
resigned because of the pressure of other business. 

In 1887 Mr. Warfield bought the Maryland Law 
Record, and in 1888 changed it to a daily issue, under 
the name of the Daily Record. 

Since May 1, 1890, when his term as Surveyor of 
the Port expired, Mr. Warfield has not been actively 
engaged in politics, but has devoted his time to the 
affairs of the Fidelity and Deposit Company of Mary- 
land, of which he was the founder and is now presi- 
dent. He was a delegate-at-large to the National 
Democratic Convention in 1896. He was a member 
of the Committee on Credentials, and fought against 
the unseating of the delegates from Michigan, headed 
by Don Dickinson, and after a continuous session of 
24 hours succeeded in accomplishing his purpose. Mr. 
Warfield voted for Ex-Governor Pattison, of Pennsyl- 
vania. Although his choice did not win, he felt that, 
as he had participated in the convention, he was in 
duty bound to support the nominee, and he voted for 
Mr. Bryan at the regular election. 

Mr. Warfield is a director of the Central Savings 
Bank, the Farmers and Merchants' National Bank, 
both of Baltimore, and the Mutual Fire Insurance 
Company of Montgomery County. He is a member 
of the Board of Trade of Baltimore and one of its 
directors. He is a member of the Maryland His- 
torical Society, Maryland Club and several patriotic 
and professional societies and social organizations, 
among which are the Maryland Society Sons of the 
Revolution, the Society of the War of 1812, the Amer- 
ican Bar Association, the Baltimore and the Mary- 
land Bar Associations, and the Maryland Sons of the 
American Revolution. He was president-general of 
the National Society of the S. A. R. in 1903. 

On September 16, 1903, Mr. Warfield was nominated 
by acclamation by the Democratic State Convention 



Governor Warfield 71 

as the party's candidate for Governor. On November 
3, 1903, he was elected Governor by a plurality of 
12,625 votes over his Republican opponent. 

The administration of Governor Warfield has been 
singularly* successful. In making appointments for 
office he has been guided by the highest motives of 
patriotism. He introduced into the Executive busi- 
ness of the State many methods suggested by his 
admirable business training. To him more than to 
any other man the State owes the restoration of the 
old Senate Chamber and the repair of the original 
State House and the Executive offices. In his admin- 
istration the State's stock in the Washington Branch 
was sold at an enormous price and all direct State 
tax repealed except 16 cents on $100 for schools. 
Both of these things he recommended in his message 
to the Legislature in 1906. In that excellent message 
he recommended the enactment of an oyster-planting 
law, the establishment of a State Hospital for Con- 
sumptives, the passage of a child-labor law and an 
appropriation for the Jamestown Exposition. All 
these things were done. Another admirable reform 
instituted by the Governor was the abolition of the 
enrollment of bills for submission to the Governor. 
By insisting on having the original bills as they 
passed the Assembly, the Governor made a great 
saving for the State and decreased the opportunity 
for fraud or error in laws. 

But it is not to State affairs exclusively that the 
Governor confines himself. He takes an intelligent 
interest in current events and "stands by to bear a 
hand" when occasion requires. When the body of 
John Paul Jones was to be brought to America, 
Governor Warfield suggested to the President that 
final interment should be made at the Naval Academy. 
The propriety of this suggestion was recognized, and 



72 The State of Maryland 

it was adopted. Upon the occasion of the deposit 
of the body in Bancroft Hall there were elaborate 
ceremonies and a great concourse of people from 
various parts of the Union. France sent a squadron 
of men-of-war, whose officers and men took a con- 
spicuous part in the proceedings. There were four 
men selected to address the vast gathering in the 
armory — the President, the French Ambassador, 
Gen. Horace Porter and Governor Warfield. The 
Governor spoke last, and received a great ovation. 
He made a notable speech, in which he upheld with 
distinguished ability the honor and glory of his 
native State, telling what she had done for the United 
States, and especially for the navy. 

There are certain social duties and obligations 
appertaining to the office of Governor. All of these 
Mr. Warfield and his charming wife have discharged 
with grace and dignity, and they have maintained 
a generous hospitality at the Government House, 
having entertained all the distinguished men and 
women who have visited the capital of Maryland in 
any official capacity and others. Among his guests 
have been the President of the United States, the 
French Ambassador, Mons. Jusserand, Prince Louis 
of Battenburg, the French Admiral, Cabinet officers 
and others. 

MURRAY VANDIVEK. 

Mr. Murray Vandiver, Treasurer of Maryland, was 
born in 1845 at Havre de Grace, Md. He is the son 
of the late Robert R. Vandiver, a descendant of some 
of the first settlers of Delaware. He was educated 
in the public schools of Harford county and Havre 
de Grace Academy, and graduated from a business 
college in Poughkeepsie, N. Y., in 1864. He early 
engaged in the lumber business in Havre de Grace, 




HON. MURRAY VANDIVER, 
Treasurer of Maryland. 



Gen. Murray Vandiver 73 

He was elected a member of the House of Delegates 
of Maryland in 1876, 1878, 1880, and was Speaker 
of the House in 1892. He was a member of the 
National Democratic Convention of 1892, which nomi- 
nated Cleveland; of 1896, which nominated Bryan 
the first time; a delegate-at-large to the National 
Democratic Convention of 1900, and a delegate-at- 
large and chairman of the delegation to the National 
Democratic Convention in 1904, which nominated 
Parker. From 1888 to 1897 Mr. Vandiver was secre- 
tary and treasurer of the Democratic State Central 
Committee, and in 1897 become chairman of the com- 
mittee, which position he now holds. As chairman 
of the Democratic State Central Committee Mr. Van- 
diver conducted the re-organization primary cam- 
paign in Baltimore city in the fall of 1898, which 
resulted in the precinct organization of Baltimore 
city. Mr. Vandiver managed the State campaign in 
1899, which restored the Democratic party to power 
in the State. From July, 1893, to October 1, 1897, 
Mr. Vandiver was Collector of Internal Revenue for 
the District of Maryland, District of Columbia and 
Delaware and two counties of Virginia, being ap- 
pointed by President Cleveland. He resigned as 
Collector of Internal Revenue to take effect October 1, 
1897, and upon his retirement was highly compli- 
mented by the Commissioner of Internal Revenue 
upon the very eflacient and satisfactory condition 
of his office, the national administration at that time 
being Republican. On January 11, 1900, Mr. Van- 
diver was elected Treasurer of the State of Maryland, 
receiving the entire vote of his party in both the Sen- 
ate and House in open session and without a party 
caucus, which office he now fills, having been elected 
at the sessions of the General Assembly of 1902, 1904 
and 1906. Mr. Vandiver was appointed on the staff 



74 The State of Maryland 

of the late Gov. Robert M. McLane with the rank 
of colonel, and on the staff of Gov. John Walter 
Smith with the rank of brigadier general. He is a 
director in the First National Bank of Havre de 
Grace, Third National Bank of Baltimore, the Com- 
monwealth Bank of Baltimore and the American 
Bonding Company of Baltimore, the National Bank 
at Port Deposit, a director in the Delaware Railroad, 
and was one of the World's Fair Commissioners for 
the State of Maryland appointed by Governor Brown 
in 1892. He is a director in nearly all the incor- 
porated companies located at Havre de Grace, and 
was Mayor of the city in 1885 and 1886. He wrote 
the charter which incorporated Havre de Grace as 
a city in 1878. 

DK. GORDON T. ATKINSON. 

Dr. Atkinson, Comptroller of the Treasury, holds 
a high rank among the professional and business 
men of Somerset county, Maryland. He is a son of 
Levin Atkinson, and was born December 28, 1846, 
on a farm in Somerset county, Maryland. He at- 
tended the local schools in Pocomoke City, Md., and 
Dickinson College, Carlisle, Pa. He left the college 
in his junior year to matriculate as a medical student 
at the University of Pennsylvania, where he gradu- 
ated in the class of 1869. He settled in the town of 
Crisfield in 1871, where he now resides. The only 
office that he has ever held has been that of Com- 
missioner of Crisfield and School Commissioner of 
Somerset county. He was a candidate for the State 
Senate in 1895, but was defeated with his party. Dr. 
Atkinson has always taken an active part in the 
councils of the Democratic party, but has never been 
an aspirant for office. He was for over two years 
president of the Bank of Crisfield. He is now presi- 



Comptroller Atkinson 75 

dent of the Crisfield Ice Manufacturing Company and 
a member of the well-known drug firm of Hall, Atkin- 
son & Co. Dr. Atkinson is a member of the Methodist 
Protestant Church, and is connected with the official 
board of this organization. 

Dr. Atkinson was first nominated for Comptroller 
on the ticket with Governor Warfield in 1903, and 
was elected by a large majority. Two years later 
he was re-nominated without opposition and again 
elected. Under his administration the financial 
condition of Maryland has been most healthy, the 
public debt practically extinguished, notwithstanding 
the expenditure of over four million dollars in public 
buildings within six years. 



CHAPTER VII 

EDUCATIONAL SYSTEM 



Maryland has abundant schools of all kinds, and 
every provision is made that each child in the State, 
male and female, white and colored, shall have every 
needed facility for obtaining an education. No farm- 
house in all the State is too remote from a free 
school for the children to reach it conveniently by 
walking. In the public free school system of the 
State there are 2,377 schoolhouses in the counties, 
of which 612 are for colored children, and 108 in the 
city of Baltimore, of which 15 are for colored schools. 
The annual expenditure for public free schools in 
the State is about $3,250,000; 200,000 children attend 
the public schools, and they are taught by 5,150 
teachers. There are normal schools for the training 
of teachers, and polytechnic and manual training 
schools in most of the counties. At most of the 
county seats there are high schools, where pupils 
can prepare for college, and those who do not intend 
to go to college can get a fair education. There are, 
in addition to these high schools, 19 academies in the 
various counties. 

Not only does the State give a liberal support to 
its public school system, but it extends aid to a 
number of colleges not connected with the public 
schools. In 1905 the schools receiving State aid, 
for which free scholarships are awarded, are shown 
in the following table: 



Schools and Education 77 



.2 
NAME OF INSTITUTION ^q ^^ 

9 © «M O 



3-g 

O o3 



^^ 



Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore $25,000 112 

Western Maryland College, Westminster... 14,500 80 

Washington College, Chestertown 14,000 64 

Md. Agricultural College, College Park 9,000 27 

St. John's College, Annapolis 14,200 104 

University of Maryland, Baltimore 4,000 

Baltimore Medical College, Baltimore 4,000 3 

College of Physicians and Surgeons, Balto. . 4,000 

Maryland Institute, Baltimore 10,000 108 

McDonogh Institute, La Plata 1,000 12 

Charlotte Hall Academy, Charlotte Hall... 6,600 26 

Frederick College, Frederick 800 11 

St. John's Literary Institute, Frederick 400 8 

Md. School for Deaf and Dumb, Frederick . . 30,000 

Baltimore Manual Labor School, Arbutus.. 3,000 ... 

St. Mary's Female Semi'y, St. Mary's City . . 6,000 28 

St, Mary's Industrial School, Baltimore 20,000 10 

St. Peter Claver's Industrial School, Balto . . 300 

Colored Normal School, Woodlawn 2,000 

Totals $168,800 593 

Maryland was one of tlie first among the States to 
provide for the education of her citizens. As far 
back as 1696 Gov. Francis Nicholson established a 
public school at Annapolis. It was known as King 
William's School and is now St. John's College. 

Under the present law the schools in the counties 
are managed by County School Commissioners 
appointed by the Governor. Each board elects 
an executive officer known as the County School 
Superintendent. The State for 1907 and 1908 levies 
a tax of 16 cents on the $100 for school purposes. 
This tax yields about $1,200,000 a year, which is dis- 
tributed to the counties, the city and each county 
levying a local tax in addition. 

The School Commissioners of Baltimore city are 
appointed by the Mayor. The Mayor designates the 



78 The State of Maryland 

president of the School Board. The term of the Com- 
missioners is six years, and three of the nine will 
retire at the end of every two years. 

The Board of School Commissioners appoints the 
City Superintendent of Public Instruction and assist- 
ant superintendents; also, one or more visitors to 
each school, the visitors to serve without pay. 

The school teachers are selected by the Superin- 
tendent and his assistants, in accordance with the 
merit system and subject to confirmation by the 
School Board. The Commissioners appoint the faculty 
of the City College and the teachers of the Poly- 
technic Institute and the high schools, as well as 
various subordinate officers in the department. 

Church and party ties shall not be regarded by the 
Mayor in making his selections, the intention being 
to keep the public schools entirely out of the field of 
political and religious differences. Ward lines are 
also abolished in making selections. 

A Compulsory Education Act was passed by the 
General Assembly of 1902, which was limited in its 
operations to Baltimore city and Allegany county. 
The act requires children between 8 and 12 years 
of age to attend school. Attendance officers were 
authorized and appointed to enforce the law, and 
penalties are provided for violations. 

The following is a summary of the provisions of 
the Maryland State School Law, as revised by the 
General Assembly of 1904: 

The State Board of Education is composed of eight 
members, consisting of six appointed by the Governor, 
and the Governor and the State Superintendent of 
Education. The terms of the members of the State 
board correspond to those of the County School Com- 
missioners, and minority representation is provided. 

The State Superintendent of Public Education is 
secretary of the State Board of Education. 



Public School Law 79 

The official title of the secretary of the County 
School Board is "secretary, treasurer and county 
superintendent." 

Principal teacher is appointed by the board of 
trustees and becomes the secretary of the board of 
district trustees. 

All assistant teachers are appointed by the County 
School Boards. 

County School Boards are given authority to con- 
solidate schools when desirable and practicable, and 
to pay charges of transportation. 

The normal school at Frostburg, the normal de- 
partment of Washington College, the Maryland State 
Normal School and the Baltimore colored normal 
school are under the supervision of the State Board 
of Education. 

The minimum county school tax rate is 15 cents. 

Where the school board fails to provide a school 
year of nine months, and the minimum salary of 
$300, to white teachers whose schools average 15, the 
Comptroller will withhold the March installment of 
the school tax. 

There is no separate fund for colored schools. All 
matters pertaining to colored schools are left with 
the County School Board. 

The State school tax is apportioned on the basis 
of (colored and white) between the ages of 5 and 20 
as disclosed by the census. 

The pension fund for teachers is $25,000 annually. 

Among the important free schools in Maryland is 
the McDonogh Institute, near Baltimore. The free 
school for boys was founded by John McDonogh, 
born in Baltimore, December 29, 1779, and died in 
New Orleans, October 26, 1850. The requirements for 
entry are as follows: 

1. They must be poor boys, of good character, of 
respectable associations in life, residents of the city 
of Baltimore. 



80 The State of Maryland 

2. They must be sound and healthy in mind and 
body. 

3. They must be between 10 and 14 years of age. 

4. They must pass a competitive examination. 
Students get military training, instruction in farm 

and shop work, surveying, shorthand and type- 
writing, in machinery, woodwork, typesetting and 
other industries. 

The property of the foundation consists of 835 
acres of land in a beautiful and healthy region, 12 
miles northwest of Baltimore city, with commodious 
buildings; an endowment fund of $725,600 from John 
McDonogh invested in Baltimore city bonds; bequest 
of Dr. Zenus Bamum of $80,000 to promote mechanical 
instruction and manual training; bequest of Samuel 
H. Tagart of $175,000. 

LIBRARIES. 

One of the most important of all the various edu- 
cational appliances are public libraries, and with these 
Maryland is singularly well supplied. Baltimore, 
which, as has been said, is one of the chief educational 
centers of the country in the number and importance 
of its libraries, is far ahead of nearly all other Ameri- 
can cities, the aggregate number of books in them 
exceeding one million. The Pratt and other great 
libraries are free. There is a State library at 
Annapolis which has a most complete collection of 
law books and histories. There are two State Library 
Commissions — one to encourage the formation of free 
libraries in the counties and the other to circulate 
traveling libraries throughout the State. The latter 
one with the co-operation of Dr. Bernard Steiner, 
librarian of the Pratt Library, is doing an excellent 
work. 




HON. GORDON T. ATKINSON, 
Comptroller of the Treasury. 



Care of Consumptives 81 

GEOLOGICAL SURVEY. 

The State Geological and Economic Survey is 
established for the purpose of examining the geo- 
logical formations and mineral resources of the State 
of Maryland with special reference to their economic 
products and for the preparation of reports and maps 
illustrating the character and distribution of the 
mineral resources. The survey maintains a highway 
division under special Acts of the General Assembly. 
It likewise carries on work in hydrography, forestry, 
terrestrial magnetism and the mapping of the agri- 
cultural soils in co-operation with the national gov- 
ernment. The most important feature of this joint 
work is the preparation and publication by counties 
of a topographic map of the State on the scale of 
one mile to one inch. 

A bureau known as the State Highway Division 
is connected with the Geological Survey, and it has 
charge of the construction of roads under the Shoe- 
maker Road Law and of the highway between Balti- 
more and Washington. 

In 1906 the Legislature established a State Forestry 
Commission, which is to promote the cultivation 
and care of trees and the preservation of game. 

STATE TUBERCULOSIS SANATORIUM. 

One of the most important pieces of constructive 
legislation accomplished in Maryland in late years 
was the law establishing the Tuberculosis Sana- 
torium, which was enacted at the session of 1906. 
This law will begin the care of consumptives by the 
State, and as the disease has been proved curable in 
its early stages, the good which can and probably 
will be accomplished is enormous. Under this law 
Governor Warfield has appointed a commission of 



82 The State of Maryland 

which his predecessor, Ex-Governor John Walter 
Smith, is a member, whose duties are set forth in 
the act. 

It is directed that this commission shall establish 
an institution to be known as the Maryland Tuber- 
culosis Sanatorium, accessible by railroad or water 
transportation. The sum of $115,000 was appro- 
priated by the Legislature for the establishment of 
the sanatorium and maintaining it during 1907 and 
1908. And it is the design that consumptive patients 
shall be cared for free of charge. In the Blue Ridge 
Mountains, in the Alleghanies and in other parts of 
Maryland the climate is especially favorable to the 
cure of consumption and not only will cures be 
effected, but by removing patients from their families 
the spread of the disease will be diminished. 

In addition to this provision an appropriation of 
$15,000 for the year 1907 was given by the Legislature 
to the "Hospital for Consumptives of Maryland," an 
institution already established and doing a good work. 
Of this sum $10,000 is to be used in the erection of 
buildings in the mountain regions of the State and 
$5,000 for maintenace. 

For the year 1908 the appropriation is $20,000, 
$15,000 of which is for buildings and $5,000 for main- 
tenance. Thus it will be seen that the Legislature 
appropriated in 1906 no less than $150,000 to begin 
the work of fighting and eradicating the most deadly 
malady with which people of Maryland are aflBicted. 



CHAPTER VIII * 

STATISTICS OF POPULATION 



POPULATION OF MARYLAND. 

Counties. Federal Census, 

1900. 

Allegany 53,694 

Anne Arundel 40,018 

Baltimore county 90,755 

Calvert 10,223 

Caroline 16,248 

Carroll 33,860 

Cecil 24,662 

Charles 18,316 

Dorchester 27,962 

Frederick 51,920 

Garrett 17,701 

Harford 28,269 

Howard 16,715 

Kent 18.TSG 

Montgomery 30,451 

Prince George's 29,898 

Quetn Anne's 18,364 

Somerset 25,923 

St. Mary's 18,136 

Talbot 20,342 

Washington 45,133 

Wicomico 22,852 

Worcester 20,865 

County totals 681,093 

Baltimore city 508,957 

State total 1,190,050 

POPULATION OF BALTIMORE CITY, 1790 TO 1900. 

Census Years. Population. 

1900 508,957 

1890 434,439 

1870 267,354 

1880 332,313 

1860 212,418 

1850 169,054 

1840 102,313 

1820 80,620 

1820. 62,738 

1810 46,555 

1800 26,514 

1790 13.503 



, Increase ^ 


Number. 


Per Ct. 


74,518 


17.2 


102,126 


.'50 . 7 


54,93« 


25.9 


64,959 


24.3 


43,364 


25.7 


66,741 


65.2 


21,693 


26.9 


J 7,882 


28.5 


16,183 


34.8 


20,041 


75.6 


13,011 


96.4 



4 

84 The State of Maryland 

The males of voting age in Baltimore in 1900 num- 
bered 141,271. Of these 7.2 per cent, were illiterate. 
Native-born males of voting age numbered 111,181 
and 6.3 per cent, illiterate. Foreign-born males of 
voting age numbered 30,090 and 10.4 per cent, of them 
illiterate. The negro males of voting age were 22,257 
and 26.8 per cent, illiterate. 

The population of the State in 1900 was more than 
three times as large as that given for 1790, the year 
in which the first United States census was taken. 

, Increase ^ 

Census Years. Population. Number. Per Ct. 

1900 1,188,044 147,660 14,2 

1890 1,042,390 107,447 11.5 

1880 934,943 154,049 19.7 

1870 780,894 93,845 13.7 

1860 687,049 104,015 17.8 

1850 583,034 113,015 24.0 

1840 470,019 22,979 5.1 

1830 447,040 39,690 9.7 

1820 407,350 26,804 7.0 

1810 380,546 38,998 11.4 

1800 341,548 21,820 6.8 

1790 319,728 

In the year 1900 the total foreign-born population 
of Maryland was 93,934. The persons of foreign 
parentage numbered 272,321 white and 1,406 colored 
inhabitants. 

NEGROES IN MARYLAND. 

The negro population of Maryland, by counties, in 
1900 was as follows: 

Total. Males. Females. 

Allegany 1,669 837 832 

Anne Arundel 15,367 8,054 7,313 

Baltimore 11,618 5,966 5,652 

Baltimore city 79,258 35,063 44,195 

Calvert 5,143 2,725 2,418 

Caroline 4,237 2,162 2,075 

Carroll 2,143 1,027 1,116 

Cecil 3,805 2,026 1,779 

Charles 9,648 5,054 4,594 

Dorchester 9,484 4,847 4,637 

Frederick 6,012 2,921 3,091 

Qarrett 126 63 63 



Males. 


Females. 


3,054 


2,800 


2,277 


2,128 


3,962 


3,480 


5,088 


4,966 


6,405 


5,580 


3,381 


2,991 


4,325 


3,931 


4,934 


4,599 


3,880 


3,586 


1,173 


1,315 


2,960 


2,868 


3,433 


3,438 



Figures from the Census 85 

Total. 

Harford 5,854 

Howard 4,405 

Kent 7,442 

Montgomery 10,054 

Prince George's 11,985 

Queen Anne's 6,372 

St. Mary's 8,256 

Somerset 9,533 

Talbot 7,466 

Washington 2,488 

Wicomico 5,828 

Worcester 6,871 

Totals 235,064 115,617 119,447 

In Maryland 35.1 per cent, of the negroes were 
illiterate in 1900. 

The negro population of cities and towns in Mary- 
land having 2,500 to 25,000 inhabitants in 1890 and 
1900 was as follows: 

1900. 1890. 

Annapolis 3,002 2,914 

Cambridge 1,958 1,440 

Chestertown 1,220 1,121 

Crisfield 799 

Cumberland 1,100 962 

Easton 1,024 1,143 

Elkton 516 

Frederick 1,535 1,576 

Frostburg 236 214 

Hagerstown 1,277 1,012 

Havre de Grace 563 709 

Salisbury 1,006 822 

Westminster 355 375 

Figures compiled from the Federal census of 1900 
give the following totals of the population of the 
State: 

Total population 1,188,044 

Males 589,275 

Females 589,769 

Native born 1,094,110 

Foreign born 93,934 

Total white 952,424 

Native white 859,280 

Negroes 235,064 

Chinese 544 

Japanese 9 

Indians, taxed 8 



86 The State of Maryland 

URBAN POPULATION OF MARYLAND. 

From the United States census of 1900 there are 
98 incorporated cities, towns and villages in Mary- 
land. Of these there are 18 which had a population 
in 1900 of more than 2,000, and of these 11 had less 
than 5,000; 4 more than 5,000 and less than 10,000. 
There were 3 which had more than 10,000, namely, 
Baltimore, with 508,957; Cumberland, with 17,128; 
Hagerstown, with 13,591 inhabitants. 

, Population ^ 

Cities, Towns and Villages. 1900. 1890. 

Aberdeen 600 448 

Annapolis 8,402 7,604 

Baltimore 508,957 434,439 

Barnesville 125 

Belair 961 1,416 

Berlin 1,246 974 

Bishopvllle 243 275 

Bladensburg 463 503 

Bloomington 395 295 

Boonsboro 700 766 

Bowie 443 

Bridgetown 50 

Brookeville 158 

Brunswick 2,471 

Burklttsviile 229 273 

Cambridge 5,747 4,192 

Cecilton 447 485 

Centreville 1,231 1,309 

Cbarlestown 244 228 

Chesapeake 1,172 1,155 

Chestertown 3,008 2,632 

Church Hill 368 596 

Clear Spring 474 

Crisfleld 3,165 1,565 

Crumpton 207 317 

Cumberland 17,128 12,729 

Damascus 148 

Darlington 260 239 

Deer Park 293 179 

Delmar 659 

Denton 900 641 

East New Market 1,267 

Easton 3,074 2,939 

Elkton 2,542 2,318 

Ellicott City 1,331 1,488 

Emmitsburg 849 844 

Federalsburg 539 543 

Frederick 9,296 8,193 

Frostburg 5,274 3,804 



Towns and Villages 87 



Cities, Towns and Villages. 

Funkstown 

Gaithersburg 

Garrett Park 

Girdletree 

Grantsville 

Greensboro 

Hagerstown ■'^^'^^i 

Hampstead 

Hancock 

Havre de Grace 

Hlllsboro 

Hurlock 

Hyattstown 

Hyattsvllle 1,222 

Keedysville 

Kensington 

Laurel 

Laytonsville 

Leonardtown 

Loch Lynn Heights 

Lonaconing 

Manchester 

Middletown 

Millington 

Mountain Lake Park 

Mt. Airy 

New Windsor 

Northeast 

Oakland 

Ocean City 

Oxford 

Perry ville 

Piscataway 

Pocomoke 

Poolesville 

Port Deposit 

Preston 

Princess Anne 

Queenstown 

Ridgely 

Rising Sun 

Rockville 

St. Michaels 

Salisbury 

Sharpsburg 

Sharptown 

Smithsburg 

Snow Hill 

Sudlersville 

Takoma 

Taneytown 

Thurmont 

Trappe 

Union Bridge 

Upper Marlboro 

Walkersyille 

Westernport 

Westminster 

Williamsport 



, Population ^ 


1900. 


1890. 


559 




547 




175 




336 




175 




641 


902 


13,591 


10,118 


480 


521 


824 


815 


3,423 


3,244 


196 


174 


280 




81 




1,222 


1,509 


426 


420 


477 




2,079 


1,984 


148 




454 


521 


215 




2,181 




609 


273 


665 


667 


406 


485 


260 




332 


, 


430 


414 


969 


1,249 


1,170 


1,046 


365 


85 


1,243 


1,135 


770 


344 


95 




2,124 


1,866 


236 




1,575 


1,908 


192 




854 


865 


374 




713 


215 


382 


384 


1,110 


1,568 


1,043 


1,329 


4,277 


2,905 


1,030 


1,163 


529 


427 


462 


487 


1,596 


1,483 


221 


125 


756 


164 


665 


666 


868 




279 


251 


663 


743 


449 


439 


359 


255 


1,998 


1,526 


3,199 


2,903 


1,472 


1,277 



88 The State of Maryland 

The towns of Maryland are as a rule situated in 
healthy localities. Many of them are on tributaries 
of the Chesapeake. Manufacturing industries exist 
in most of them and the labor to be had is intelligent 
and contented. All the towns and cities are well 
supplied with schools, churches and other institutions, 
and they offer great inducements to settlers who have 
trades or to capital desirous of embarking in manu- 
facturing enterprises. 



CHAPTER IX 
PUBLIC ROAD IMPROVEMENT 



The purpose of the Maryland State Aid Road law, 
Act of Assembly, 1904, Chapter 225, is to encourage 
in a practical way the gradual building up of a system 
of good roads in all parts of the State. By its pro- 
visions the State offers to pay one-half the cost of 
such roads by the annual appropriation of $200,000, 
to be allotted among the several counties in the direct 
proportion which the public road mileage of the 
county bears to the total public road mileage of the 
State. 

Wherever a county does not take up its full allot- 
ment of State aid, the balance is to be reapportioned 
among such remaining counties as are ready to take 
up a further allotment in proportion to their public 
road mileage. By this means some counties may se- 
cure a larger sum than given in the first general 
allotment. 

A county may secure State aid in the following 
manner: The County Commissioners petition the 
State Commission for aid to build a certain piece of 
road. If it is found, upon examination by the State 
Commission, that the road in question is one of gen- 
eral public convenience and a proper one to construct, 
an estimate of the cost of the improvement is made, 
together with plans, specifications, etc., for doing 
the work. This is undertaken by the County Com- 
missioners either by contract, or, if the prices for 
doing it in this manner are considered too high, then 
in other ways that they may deem best. 



90 The State of Maryland 

After the work is done according to the specifica- 
tions, and the State Commission has so certified to 
the Comptroller, then one-half of the cost of con- 
structing the road will be paid by the State to the 
county building the road ; but in no case is the amount 
paid by the State to exceed one-half of the cost, as 
shown by the estimate of the cost of the work as 
first made by the State Commission. It is also pro- 
vided that the owners of two-thirds of the lands bind- 
ing upon any public road or section of road, not less 
than a mile long, can compel the County Commis- 
sioners to petition for the construction of the piece 
of road, provided that the owners petitioning have 
paid or have pledged 10 per cent, of the cost. The 
work then proceeds as already described, except that 
the County Commissioners cannot be compelled by 
this payment of 10 per cent, by property holders to 
contract for work to an amount greater than one- 
fourth of the road levy of the county. This 10 per 
cent, subscription is optional with each holder of 
property binding upon the road which it is desired to 
improve, and in no instance can any property holder 
be compelled to bear any part of the amount pledged. 

The following table shows the allotment of the 
State road appropriation to the counties, according 
to their public road mileage as determined by the 
Maryland Geological Survey, as required by the law: 

STATE FUND FOB ROADS. 

Allotment to Counties of Maryland made by Geological 
Survey, according to their Public Road Mileage. 

Counties. Mileage. Allotment. 

Allegany 693 $8,967.39 

Anne Arundel 521 6,741.72 

Baltin»ore 1,119 14,479.81 

Calvert 335 4,334.89 

Caroline 547 7,078.16 

Carroll 770 9,963.77 

CecU 638 8,255.69 



Public Road Fund 91 

Counties. Mileage. Allotment. 

Charles 465 $6,017.08 

Dorchester 600 7,763.98 

Frederick 1,151 14,893.89 

Garrett 940 12,163.56 

Harford 822 10,636.65 

Howard 413 5,344.20 

Kent 427 5,525.36 

Montgomery 798 10,326.09 

Prince George's 892 11,542.44 

Queen Anne's 563 7,285.20 

St. Mary's 602 7,789.85 

Somerset 464 6,004.14 

Talbot 397 5,137.16 

Washington 695 8,993.27 

Wicomico 772 9,989.65 

Worcester 832 10,766.05 

Total 15,456 $200,000.00 

In 1906 the Legislature appropriated $90,000 to con- 
struct a fine road from Baltimore to Washington and 
authorized the employment of prisoners in the House 
of Correction. The work to be done under the super- 
vision of the State Highways Bureau. 

ALTITUDES IN MARYLAND. 
Elevations of Points in Maryland, Grouped by 

Counties. 

Compiled by the Maryland Geological Survey from 

Best Available Data. 

ALLEGANY COUNTY. 

Localities. Elevation in Feet. 

Cumberland (Court House) 688 

Dan's Roclj 2,898 

Frostburg 1,929 

Mt. Savage 1,198 

Westernport 1,000 

Piney Grove 937 

Flintstone 828 

Oldtown 564 

ANNE ARUNDEL COUNTY. 

Annapolis (Executive Mansion, street ^ 40 

Marrfott Hill '. 240 

Davidsonville 185 

Owensville 182 

Odenton 160 

Jewell 160 

Friendship 150 

Glenburnle 55 



92 The State of Maryland 

BALTIMORE CITY. 
Localities. Elevation In Feet. 

City Hall 20 

High Service Reservoir 350 

Druid Hill Park (Mansion House) 320 

Johns Hopkins University site (Carroll Mansion) 245 

Mt. Royal Reservoir 155 

Hotel Altamont (street) 170 

Patterson Park Observatory (base) 125 

Johns Hopkins Hospital 105 

Washington Monument (base) 100 

Carroll Park (Mansion House) 95 

Fort McHenry 30 

BALTIMORE COUNT if. 

Towson (Court House) 465 

Reisterstown 735 

St. Thomas Church 650 

Pikesville 516 

Catonsvllle 510 

Chattolanee Hotel 510 

Long Green 500 

Fork 420 

Parkton 420 

Cockeysville 280 

Lake Roland 225 

Lochraven 170 

Relay Viaduct 71 

Bradshaw 40 

North Point 20 

CALVERT COUNTY. 

Prince Frederick 150 

Mt. Harmony 181 

Port Republic 160 

Bowens 160 

Parron 136 

Chesapeake Beach 20 

Lower Marlboro 20 

CAROLINE COUNTY. 

Denton 42 

Marydell «3 

Federalsburg (1^^ miles northeast of) 42 

Greensboro 41 

CARROLL COUNTY. 

Westminster 774 

Manchester ( % mile south of) 1,107 

Hampstead 913 

Bachman's Valley 860 

Sykesvllle 600 

Finksburg 545 

Taneytown 490 



Altitudes Above Tide 93 

CECIL COUNTY. 
Localities. Elevation in Feet^ 

Elkton • KA(\ 

Rock Spring (1/2 mile south of) J*g 

Woodlawn 44 j^ 

Calvert 387 

Rising Sun orr 

Gray's Hill (near Elkton) ^gg 

Cecilton ^^8 

Queenstown • • • • -.« 

Port Deposit (Postoffice) ^^ 

CHARLES COUNTY. 

100 

La Plata 193 

Hughesville -,84 

Patuxent -ika 

Chapel Point ^Y.}. 

Indian Head -^"^ 

Port Tobacco ^" 

DORCHESTER COUNTY. 

Cambridge ?9 

Vienna ^t 

Church Creek V 

Drawbridge 

FREDERICK COUNTY. 

Frederick . ?2^ 

Sugar Loaf Mountain i';»" 

Point of Rocks (3 miles north of) ^'i^K 



Sugar Loaf Mountain. 

~ " — ■ '" "es nortn 01; ^ k-ik 

Thurmont • ^^^ 

Monocacy Bridge (W. M. R. R.) 329 

Point of Rocks -^^ 

GARRETT COUNTY. 

Oakland 2,461 

Backbone Mt.' (i mile northeast of Potomac stone) .... 3,700 

Table Rock (1 mile southwest of) -^.5U0 

Table Rock %'^l^ 

Altamont ^'^^^ 

Accident 2,395 

Deer Park Hotel 2,480 

Mountain Lake Park 2,450 

Grantsville 2,3ol 

Friendsville l'^«l 

Bloomington 1»^^^ 

HARFORD COUNTY. 

Belair f^6 

Madonna ^ qIc 

Pylesville ^4%° 

Darlington ^^g 

Aberdeen Lfl 

Perryman "" 

Havre de Grace *° 



94 The State of Maryland 

HOWARD COUNTY. 
Localities. Elevation in Feet. 

Elllcott City (Court House) 233 

Clarljsville 488 

West Friendship 476 

Marriottsville 300 

Woodstock 258 

Savage 220 

KENT COUNTY. 

Cliestertown 22 

Blaclss ( % mile east of) 80 

Stillpond 70 

Massey 64 

Sassafras 34 

Millington 27 

Edesville 24 

Georgetown 5 

MONTGOMERY COUNTY. 

Roclcville 450 

Poplar Springs 800 

Clarljsburg 800 

Gaitliersburg 500 

Diclierson 350 

Cabin John Bridge 100 

PRINCE GEORGE'S COUNTY. 

Upper Marlboro 39 

Brandywine 23i3 

Accokeelc 200 

Aquasco 158 

Laurel 150 

Bowie 149 

Fort Washington 120 

Beltsville 110 

Hyattsville 40 

Queen Anne 28 

Pope's Creek 20 

Sideling Hill 1,593 

QUEEN ANNE'S COUNTY. 

Centreville 59 

Sudlersville 65 

Church Hill 60 

Queen Anne 35 

Kent Island 20 

Crumpton 20 

Chesapeake 17 

SOMERSET COUNTY. 

Princess Anne 18 

Eden 30 

Wellington 27 

Costen 21 

Peninsula Junction 14 

Kingston 8 



Altitudes Above Tide 95 

ST. MARY'S COUNTY. 

Localities. Elevation in Feet. 

Leonardtown 100 

Newmarket 172 

Mechanicsville 165 

Jarboesville 110 

Park Hall 100 

Morganza 71 

Ridge 42 

Valley Lee 40 

Chaptico 20 

TALBOT COUNTY. 

Easton 30 

Wye Mills ( ^ mile south of) 60 

Trappe 55 

Oxford 11 

St. Michaels 10 

WICOMICO COUNTY. 

Salisbury 23 

Parsonsburg 80 

Pittsville 60 

Delmar 57 

Mardela Springs 27 

Sharptown 26 

Quantico 20 

Allen 11 

WASHINGTON COUNTY. 

Hagerstown (Court House) 552 

Mt. Quirauk 2,400 

High Rock 2,000 

Blue Ridge Summit (Pa.) 1,411 

Blue Mountain House 1,200 

National Turnpike (top of Round Top) 1,,388 

Fort Frederick 470 

Hancock 488 

Sharpsburg 400 

Maryland Heights 1,300 

WORCESTER COUNTY. 

Whitehaven 6 

Snow Hill 212 

Longrldge 51 

Berlin 45 

Stockton 33 

Whiteburg 30 

Bishopville 23 

Greenbackville 10 

Pocomoke 8 

This table shows at a glance the character of the 
country in the different sections of the State; the 
highlands of the western counties; the elevated 



96 The State of Maryland 

plateau of Central Maryland, with its beautiful rolling 
country and wooded ridges and fertile valleys; the 
level lands of the Eastern Shore, together with the 
somewhat higher elevations of Southern Maryland 
on the western side of the hay. 

The highest elevation — 3,700 feet — is on the Back- 
bone mountain of Garrett county. Next in order are 
the altitudes of Allegany and Washington counties; 
then Frederick and Montgomery. Carroll, Harford, 
Howard and Baltimore are in a section of rolling 
country, well elevated, with some localities ranging 
from 400 to 1,000 feet in altitude. In Southern Mary- 
land there are fairly good elevations in Anne Arundel, 
Prince George's, Calvert, Charles and St. Mary's. In 
the nine counties of the Eastern Shore there is a 
gradual falling off in the elevations from Cecil to 
Worcester. 



CHAPTER X 
THE CAPITAL OF MARYLAND 



It has been said that if General Washington should 
return to life and make one of his customary journeys 
through Virginia, Maryland and the States to the 
north, Annapolis is the only town he would recog- 
nize — the only one which has remained unchanged 
in the century that has elapsed since the death of 
the first President. This ironical remark was more 
true some years ago, when it was made, than it is 
now. It is true that Washington, were he to re-visit 
the capital of Maryland, would recognize many of its 
buildings. He would recognize the old State House 
and the dome, under which one of the most inter- 
esting acts of his noble life took place; he would 
see the old Senate Chamber in which Congress sat 
when he resigned his commission almost precisely 
as he left it; he would see still standing the hotel in 
which he was entertained; Carrollton, the old home 
of his friend Charles Carroll, with its appearance un- 
changed; he would find many of the fine old resi- 
dences where he visited before and after the Revo- 
lution; the Tydings house; the Treasury; the Ran- 
dall house, built 1730 by Thomas Bordley; the 
Brice house, corner East and Prince George streets, 
1740 probably; the Iglehart house. Prince George 
street; its opposite neighbor, the Paca house; the 
Claude house, Shipwright street, and the Ridout 
mansion, Duke of Gloucester street; the Mason house, 
built by Governor Ogle 1742, and St. John's College 



98 The State of Maryland 

(McDowell Hall); the Randall house, Market space, 
and the house of Antony Stewart, of "Peggy Stewart" 
fame, Hanover street. The City Hotel, Washington's 
hostelry, belongs to an early period; the Chase man- 
sion was built by Governor Lloyd, and the Locker- 
man house opposite was built 1770. 

No city in America has so many fine colonial build- 
ings, and the rich flavor of the historic past remains 
although in the last few years a highly improved, 
modern town has grown up around the ancient land- 
marks. Among the modern improvements are well- 
paved, smooth streets; an excellent drainage system; 
gas; electric lights; an abundant supply of pure 
water. There is good police protection and fire pro- 
tection and admirable schools. The general Govern- 
ment has appropriated ten or twelve million dollars 
for improving the Naval Academy and has erected 
magnificent buildings. One of these buildings — the 
chapel — cost nearly a half million dollars. It is to 
be the Westminster Abbey of the American Navy, 
and the first body to be consigned to its crypt was 
that of John Paul Jones, the father of the American 
Navy. 

The State of Maryland has spent in the last few 
years nearly one and a half million dollars in public 
buildings in the capital. A Court of Appeals building 
of superb architecture and appointments was erected 
at a cost of $290,000. Besides a beautiful courtroom 
and the offices of the court it accommodates the State 
Library, the offices of Treasurer, Comptroller and 
other State officials. An addition has been made to 
the State House for the accommodation of the Legis- 
lature at a cost of $850,000. The old State House 
stands unmolested except that it has been thoroughly 
repaired and strengthened, and the Senate Chamber 
restored to its original form. 



The City of Annapolis 99 

Annapolis has been the capital of Maryland since 
1694, and it is an interesting fact that the represen- 
tative of Annes Arundel county who sat in the first 
Legislature that met in Annapolis was Major Edward 
Dorsey, an ancestor of the present Governor of Mary- 
land, the Hon. Edwin Warfield. 

In 1648, 14 years after the settlement of St. Mary's, 
Governor Stone invited a colony of Puritans in the 
lower counties of Virginia to come to Maryland to 
enjoy religious freedom and equal laws. They came 
and settled around the Severn. Later on they formed 
Anne Arundel town, the forerunner of Annapolis. 
The present city was surveyed and laid out in 1694 by 
Richard Beard, and in 1696 this map and survey were 
legalized by Act of Assembly. The original plat 
having been destroyed with the State House in the 
fire of 1704, a resurvey on the original lines was 
ordered by the Acts of 1718, ch. 19, James Stoddart 
being employed for this purpose. The Stoddart plat 
is now in the Land Office. 

The State House circle dominates the entire plan. 
That it was not laid out by Puritans is shown by the 
fact that, next to the State House reservation, the 
most important was Church circle for a Church of 
England church. Anne Arundel town, when it was 
made the capital, contained only about 40 houses, and 
probably less than 200 people. That number, of course, 
did not stand in the way of the laying out of a city. 
At the time of the removal Francis Nicholson was 
Governor, and he named the town in honor of Princess 
Anne, afterwards Queen of England. She acknowl- 
edged the compliment by presenting a silver com- 
munion service to St. Anne's Church, pieces of which 
are still preserved. 

In 1708 Annapolis became a chartered city, with a 
regular municipal government. King William School, 
which had been founded in 1696, became the chief 



100 The State of Maryland 

seat of domestic education. From the opening of the 
century the capital increased steadily in wealth and 
importance, and soon became the social center south 
of Philadelphia, and the inhabitants were distin- 
guished for sociability, courtesy and refinement of 
manners. Races, balls and other festivities attracted 
strangers not only from adjacent counties, but adja- 
cent colonies. The Tuesday Club became famous in 
the colonies for its wit and good cheer, and claimed 
among its members many of the leading Americans 
of the day. The quaint but voluminous records of 
the club give a charming insight of the social life at 
Annapolis. The provincial State House became better 
known as a ballroom than a hall of legislation. A 
theatre was in full operation as early as 1745, and was 
the first, it is asserted, in the colonies. French hair- 
dressers, tailors and perfumers plied their trades in 
the little city, and excited the admiration and wonder 
of the French and English visitors. The golden age 
of Annapolis lies between 1750 and 1770, when its 
wealth, influence and attractiveness were at the 
highest point. 

The stamp tax, imposed in 1765, met with violent 
opposition in Maryland, as it did everywhere, the 
stamp distributor, one Hood, being compelled to fly the 
province, and the stamps were shipped back to Eng- 
land, as no one would use them. 

If the opposition to the stamp tax had been fierce, 
that to the tea tax, first laid in 1767, was still fiercer, 
and associations were formed throughout the 
province to prevent the introduction of tea. A firm 
of Annapolis merchants having, in defiance of the 
public sentiment, imported a consignment of that 
commodity, popular indignation rose so high that a 
town meeting was held, and the owner of the brig 
that had brought it, Mr. Antony Stewart, to avert 



The Revolution 101 

further mischief, publicly burned his vessel, the 
Peggy Stewart, with its obnoxious cargo, in the 
sight of a large concourse of spectators, on October 
19, 1774. The vessel went ashore at Windmill Point, 
a spot now in the Naval Academy grounds. 

Governor Eden, the last proprietary Governor, left 
Maryland June 24, 1776. Before that time the Govern- 
ment had gone into the hands of a convention chosen 
by the people. It appointed delegates to the Conti- 
nental Congress, and governed the State for the first 
year of the war by a Council of Safety, which sat at 
Annapolis, and with committees of correspondence 
in the several counties. This provisional govern- 
ment raised levies and kept the Maryland Line in 
the Continental Army filled. One day, before the 
Continental Congress took that final step, the con- 
vention of Maryland issued a formal Declaration of 
Independence. It then formulated a constitution 
and form of government, embodying the Bill of 
Rights which had been written by George Mason, of 
Virginia, promulgated it and then abdicated its 
authority. This constitution is believed to be the 
first written constitution in the world, except that 
of Virginia, which preceded it by a very short time. 
Thomas Johnson, the first Governor of the State, 
was inaugurated in March, 1777, and the Council 
of Safety dissolved itself. Maryland thus became a 
sovereign and independent State, but she did not 
enter the Confederation until 1781, when she came 
in as the thirteenth and last State. 

Towards the close of the Revolutionary war the 
Continental Congress sat in Annapolis in the Senate 
Chamber, and there, on December 23, 1783, Wash- 
ington resigned his commission as Commander-in- 
Chief of the Army. The next year, in the same 
chamber, Congress ratified and signed the Treaty 



102 The State of Maryland 

of Peace with Great Britain, and in it, in September, 
1787, a Convention of Delegates from five States, 
which had been proposed by Maryland, met and pro- 
posed a closer union of the States. Out of this meet- 
ing grew the Constitutional Convention of 1787 and 
our form of government. 

The first State House was completed in 1697. This 
building was burned in 1704. The second State 
House, begun in 1704, was built on the site of the 
first, and was used for 68 years, when it was torn 
down to make way for the present edifice. 

In 1769 the General Assembly appropriated £7,500 
sterling for a new State House and appointed the fol- 
lowing building committee: Daniel Dulany, John 
Hall, Charles Carroll (barrister), Thomas Johnson, 
William Paca, Launcelot Jacques and Charles Wallace. 

The architect of the building was Mr. Joseph Clark, 
and the foundation stone was laid on March 28, 1772, 
by Governor Eden. The building was completed in 
1773, and covered with a copper roof. The Maryland 
Gazette of February 28, 1793, informs us that Thomas 
Dance, a plasterer, fell from the interior of the dome 
just as he had finished the centerpiece, and was killed 
on the floor below. This item created the impression 
that the dome was not erected until after the Revolu- 
tion. But in a book written by the chaplain of a 
French regiment, which was quartered for awhile in 
Annapolis during the Revolution, the writer spoke of 
the architectural beauty of the State House, and 
especially of the dome, proving that the dome was 
built before the Revolution. The priest said that 
the Maryland State^ House was the finest building 
of the kind in America. 

Many changes have been made in the interior of 
the building in order to secure additional space. In 
1858 the hall of the House of Delegates was much 



The State House 103 

enlarged, and the octagonal room at the rear of the 
hallway was rebuilt and enlarged to furnish quarters 
for the State Library. At this time the imposing 
stairway, known as the "Golden Stairs," was erected. 

In 187G the interior of the old Senate Chamber 
was entirely changed, the chimney and fireplace re- 
moved and the gallery taken out. In 1886 an un- 
sightly addition to the State House was built to en- 
large the library and furnish committee rooms. It 
was badly constructed, badly planned and entirely 
unsuited for any purpose. It was torn away in 1902 
to make way for the splendid addition begun that 
year. 

In 1858 the Comptroller's office was erected in the 
State circle, but, the State offices having been re- 
moved to the new Court of Appeals building, this 
ugly old building was torn down in 1906. 

Because of the increased size of the Legislature 
and the enlarged business of the State, the old legis- 
lative chambers and committee rooms and offices 
were found insufficient. In 1902 Hon. Spencer C. 
Jones, Senator from Montgomery county, introduced 
a bill providing for an annex to the old State House 
which should contain legislative chambers and the 
necessary offices for the General Assembly. The act 
created a commission, which employed Baldwin & 
Pennington as the architects, and erected an annex 
at the cost of about $800,000, double the size of the 
old building, with which it is architecturally in entire 
harmony. Of this building Governor Warfield said 
in his message to the Legislature January 3, 1906: 

"The Legislature of 1902 created a commission 
charged with the duty of 'constructing and erecting 
an addition to the present State House, in which 
shall be located the State Senate Chamber and the 
House of Delegates,' and appropriated $250,000 with 



104 The State of Maryland 

which to begin the worlc. At the session of 1904 a 
further appropriation of $600,000 was made for the 
purpose of completing the worlt and for repairs to 
the old State House. 

"The commission has completed its work, and will 
submit to this General Assembly a report showing in 
detail how the money has been expended. 

"It gives me pleasure to inform you that the Annex 
has been constructed within the appropriations made 
for that purpose, and at a very moderate cost when 
compared with the cost of similar capitols erected 
in other States. The building is admirably suited 
to the purpose for which it is to be used. It is a 
substantial, splendid structure, with ample room to 
accommodate the Legislature and the various com- 
mittees for many years to come. 

"Not only were these appropriations sufficient to 
erect the new building, but they also provided funds 
to enable the commission to restore the old Senate 
Chamber to the form and appearance it bore at the 
time of that historic event — the resignation of General 
Washington of his commission as Commander-in- 
Chief of the Continental Army, and, further, to re- 
store the Executive Chamber to its former condition, 
and to improve and fit up a private office for the 
Governor, as well as a document and working room. 

"The work of restoring the old Senate Chamber 
was done with the aid of an advisory committee of 
gentlemen connected with historic and patriotic 
societies, who were named for membership on the 
committee because of their intimate acquaintance 
with the history of the State and the traditions of the 
old Chamber. 

"This committee was appointed by me under 
authority of a resolution adopted by the State Annex 
Building Commission, and has performed its work in 
a most satisfactory manner. 



The Old Senate Chamber 105 

"In my opinion, the restoration of all the features 
of this beautiful old room is accurate. An interesting 
report of the work of the advisory committee is sub- 
mitted herewith, which will give the reasons for 
every detail of the restoration. 

"Thus has been accomplished a work that has been 
devoutly desired by the people of this State ever 
since the appearance and furnishings of the old 
Chamber were destroyed and the room modernized 
in 1878. 

"This room, hallowed by so many sacred memories 
and historic associations, will, I am sure, become 
the Mecca of every patriotic person in the State of 
Maryland, and will, each year, become more priceless 
in historic association. It will, in connection with 
the two adjoining rooms, be kept as a place in which 
will be assembled mementoes associated with the 
War of the Revolution and the earlier days of our 
State. 

"Through the work of the State Annex Building 
Commission, and under the guidance and direction 
of Messrs. Baldwin & Pennington, the architects, 
Maryland has now one of the finest State capitols in 
the Union." 

On the wall of the restored Senate Chamber is a 
tablet of bronze with the following inscription: 

ORIGINAL SENATE CHAMBER OF MARYLAND. 

In this room General George Washington resigned 
his commission as Commander-in-Chief of the Army 
of the United States of America December 23rd, 
1783, 

The restoration to its origfnal design was made during 
the administration of Edwin Warfield, Governor 
of Maryland, A. D. 1905, being authorized by the 
commission in charge of the State House Annex 



106 The State of Maryland 

building. The work was done under the super- 
vision of the following advisory commission: 

Edwin Warfleld, Governor, Chairman. 
J. Appleton Wilson, Josias Pennington, 

Clayton C. Hall, J. Davidson Iglehart, 

John S. Gittings, John Wirt Randall, 

De Courcy W. Thorn, George H. Shafer. 

Baldwin & Pennington, Architects. 

The State House contains many valuable historic 
paintings and portraits. 

The Constitution requires that the Governor of 
Maryland, during his term of office, shall be a citizen 
of Annapolis, and the State has always provided a 
residence for him, which from the earliest times has 
been known as the "Government House." The Gov- 
ernment House occupied by Governor Eden, the last 
of the colonial Governors, was contained in the land 
ceded by the State in 1866 to the United States for 
the enlargement of the Naval Academy grounds, the 
cession being made especially as an inducement to 
return the naval school from Newport, R. I., where 
it had been carried during the Civil war. This fine 
mansion, an excellent specimen of colonial archi- 
tecture, erected by Edmund Jennings, was occupied 
by all the Governors of Maryland from Eden to 
Thomas Swann, the period of about a century. When 
it came in possession of the Naval Academy it was 
used for a library. Under the scheme of improve- 
ment and reconstruction the demolition of nearly 
all the old buildings on the grounds was contem- 
plated. But this one was to have been retained and 
Improved for use as the residence of the superin- 
tendent. When the various additions which had been 
made to it were removed, however, it was found 
that the walls were too weak, and the historic building 



The Naval Academy 107 

was torn down. Through the co-operation of Admiral 
Brownson, then superintendent, Governor Warfield 
procured a beautifully carved marble mantelpiece 
from the old house, and has had it placed over the 
fireplace in the Governor's private office in the State 
House. The central building of St. John's College, 
McDowell Hall, was begun by Governor Bladen for 
a residence but never completed. It was given by 
the State to St. John's College in 1784. The present 
Government House was erected in 1867, and was first 
occupied by Gov. Oden Bowie. It is surrounded by 
beautiful grounds and is spacious and convenient. 
The external architecture is not pleasing, but the 
interior is fine, and during the present administra- 
tion, under the rule of Mrs. Edwin Warfield, lavish 
hospitality has been uninterrupted; it has been most 
tastefully fitted up by Mrs. Warfield, and is the social 
center of the capital. 

More imposing even than the buildings of the 
State are those of the United States Naval Academy. 
Indeed, the Academy is the most conspicuous feature 
of the city and attracts more visitors from afar than 
all the others. The naval school was first estab- 
lished by George Bancroft in 1846, when he was Sec- 
retary of the Navy, upon recommendation of Prof. 
William Chauvenel, who was the first instructor in 
matheifaatics and navigation. The school was estab- 
lished for the education of officers for the navy with- 
out consulting Congress, the navy having control of 
the old Fort Severn property. But the Congress soon 
made recognition of it by making an appropriation, 
on the recommendation of the President, "for repairs 
and improvements." The first superintendent was 
Captain Franklin Buchanan of Maryland, afterwards 
an admiral in the Confederate Navy and com- 
mander of the first ironclad, the Merrimac, in the 



108 The State of Maryland 

famous encounter with the Monitor in Hampton 
Roads. Since the school was established over 3,000 
cadets and midshipmen have been graduated. In 
1898, interest in the navy being stimulated by the 
Spanish war, Congress made an appropriation of 
$8,000,000— since raised to $10,000,000— to reconstruct 
the Academy buildings. With this vast sum many 
imposing buildings have been erected and more are 
in course of construction. Barracks for marines 
and marine officers* quarters have been established 
adjacent to the Academy, a naval hospital is building 
and provision has been made for a proving ground 
on the Severn, opposite the Academy. The mild 
climate of Annapolis, rendering outdoor drills and 
exercises possible for the greater part of the year, 
the magnilScent sheet of water spread out for sea- 
manship and boat drills, proximity to the National 
Capital, and a healthful, beautiful location, make this 
an ideal spot for the national naval school. It was 
removed to Rhode Island during the Civil war, but 
these natural advantages speedily caused its restora- 
tion to Annapolis. 

Annapolis is also a delightful place of residence. 
It is within an hour by rail of both Baltimore and 
Washington, and communication with these cities 
by an electric road is promised within a year. The 
resident civilian population, the families ol naval 
officers who reside in and around the Academy and 
of many retired officers of both army and navy, form 
a delightful and highly cultivated society. There are 
also fine schools and colleges, and cheap and abun- 
dant markets. The banks of the Severn, near An- 
napolis, form beautiful sites for country homes. 
Among the historic features of Annapolis, and which 
is one of the attractions for residents, is St. John's 
College. It is one of the oldest schools in the New 



An Old Building 109 

World. It was founded as King William's School, 
in 1696, and raised to collegiate rank in 1784. The 
design was that this college should be to the Western 
Shore what Washington College, Chestertown, is to 
the Eastern. This venerable school has graduated 
a large number of men who have become distin- 
guished as patriots, statesmen, lawyers and divines. 

Upon the State House hill, to the right of the State 
House, stands a quaint old colonial building of very 
modest proportions. This is the old Treasury build- 
ing. It is in the shape of a Greek cross, and is prob- 
ably the oldest edifice in the State. The venerable 
college poplar is the single living witness of its 
building, over 200 years ago. The rooms are low, 
and the walls of unusual solidity and thickness. 

Immediately in front of the entrance to the State 
House stands the bronze statue of Roger Brooke 
Taney, Chief Justice of the United States from 1836 
to 1864. This is the work of William Henry Rinehart, 
a Maryland sculptor, and was unveiled on March 17, 
1874, the anniversary of Taney's birth. 

On the southeast side of the State House stands 
the statue of Baron de Kalb, also the work of a 
Maryland sculptor, Ephraim Keyser. 



CHAPTER XI 
THE GATE TO THE SOUTH 



The city of Baltimore, the metropolis of Maryland 
and the largest city in the Southern States, lies in 
39° 17' north latitude and 76° 37' west longitude from 
Greenwich. It is at the head of navigation on the 
Patapsco river, 14 miles from the Chesapeake bay, 
204 miles by the bay from the Atlantic ocean and 31 
miles from the capital of the United States. By the 
Federal census of 1900 the city had a population of 
508,957. Notwithstanding the disaster of the great 
fire of February, 1904, by which $70,000,000 of prop- 
erty was destroyed, the population by the beginning 
of 1906 had increased to nearly 550,000, indicating a 
population of 600,000 by the census of 1910. It is a 
great manufacturing city as well as a great com- 
mercial city. Including the industries in adjacent 
suburbs, which belong to the city but are just beyond 
its limits, the output of its factories is valued at 
$200,000,000 a year. This output of one city is nearly 
as great as the output of the factories of the States 
of Georgia, Florida and Alabama combined. It is 
equal to the combined output of the two great States 
of Virginia and West Virginia; fifty million dollars 
more than the combined output of the factories of 
North and South Carolina, and almost double the 
output of the factories of Texas and twenty millions 
in excess of the products of Maine and Vermont. The 
city of Baltimore has $150,000,000 invested in manu- 
facturing, and ranks eighth among the manufacturing 



The City of Baltimore 111 

cities of the Union. The leading industries of the 
city are the making of cotton duck, refining copper, 
clothing, hats, smoking and chewing tobacco, foundry 
and machine products, tin smithing, sheet-iron work- 
ing and meat packing. In the manufacture of wearing 
apparel Baltimore stands third among the cities of 
the Union. 

The commerce of Baltimore is large and is rapidly 
growing. A great fleet of over 50 steamers and hun- 
dreds of sailing vessels land at her wharves, mainly 
on Light street, the rich products of the tidewater 
portions of Maryland and Virginia. Lines of bay 
steamers ply regularly, and on most of them daily, 
to the Sassafras, the Chester, the Tread Avon, Eastern 
bay and Miles river, the Choptank, the Wicomico, 
the Nanticoke, the Pocomoke, the various creeks and 
rivers on the Eastern Shore of Virginia, to the head 
of navigation on the Patuxent, the Potomac, the York, 
the Rappahannock, the Piankatank, to Norfolk and to 
Newport News. The amount of traflic brought by 
these vessels is enormous, a single item being thirty 
or forty thousand hogsheads of Maryland tobacco. 
Engaged in the foreign trade are the following lines 
of steamships, with regular sailing days, namely: 

Johnston Line, Baltimore to Liverpool. 

North German Lloyd, Baltimore to Bremen. 

Puritan Line, Baltimore to Antwerp. 

Blue Cross Line, Baltimore to Havre. 

Neptune Line, Baltimore to Kotterdam. 

Lord Line, Baltimore to Belfast and Cardiff. 

Empire Line, Baltimore to Leith. 

Atlantic Transport Line, Baltimore to London. 

Hamburg-American Line, Baltimore to Hamburg. 

Donaldson Line, Baltimore to Glasgow. 

Fruit Company Line, Baltimore to Jamaica. 



112 The State of Maryland 

In addition to these, there is a constant arrival of 
tramp steamers, coming for cargoes of srain, steel 
rails, etc., or bringing ores and other cargoes. 

In the coasting trade there is a constant procession 
of barges and colliers carrying coal, which comes 
from the Maryland, West Virginia and Pennsylvania 
mines, to New England and West Indian ports. Regu- 
lar lines of steamers ply as follows: 

Merchants and Miners' Line, to Boston. 

Merchants and Miners' Line, to Providence. 

Merchants and Miners' Line, to Savannah. 

Baltimore and Carolina Line, to Wilmington, N. C, 
Georgetown, S. C, and Charleston, S. C. 

Ericsson Line, to New York, outside route. 

Philadelphia Steamboat Line, via canal, to Phila- 
delphia. 

Exports from Baltimore in 1905 included — 
333,557 tons of coal. 

15,318,000 bushels of corn. 
2,000,000 bushels of wheat. 
1,175,000 barrels of flour. 
5,000,000 bushels of oats. 

The clearing house operations amounted in 1905 to 
$1,290,000,000, an increase of over $160,000,000 over 
those of the previous year. The balances in the banks 
at the close of 1905 were $167,000,000, an increase 
of $20,000,000 over those of 1904. 

The collections of internal revenue tax in 1905 in 
Baltimore were $6,270,000. 

There are 207,000 depositors in the Baltimore 
savings banks, and the resources of those institutions 
on January 1, 1906, were $79,570,719. 

During the year 1905 46 vessels, costing $2,500,000, 
were launched from Baltimore shipyards, and 4,000 
permits to build houses, valued at $18,000,000, were 
issued. 



Industries on the Patapsco 113 

The banks of the Patapsco afford an unsurpassed 
location for shipyards and iron-working plants. Al- 
ready at Sparrows Point, in the suburbs of Baltimore, 
is located a splendid plant for building steel vessels, 
bridge structural steel and steel rails. Vessels land 
Cuban iron ore at the door of the furnace, and load 
for their return voyage with rails for South America, 
Cuba, Japan, India, Australia and other parts of 
the world. At this works the great dry dock Dewey, 
which was taken to the Philippine Islands, and the 
dry dock at Algiers, La., were built for the United 
States. The fluctuations of the water level in the 
Patapsco is only 18 inches, and there is bold water 
on both sides, affording many miles of water front 
suitable for shipbuilding or other manufacturing. 
There is a channel from the Baltimore harbor to the 
ocean which will admit vessels drawing 30 feet, and 
this depth will be increased to 35 feet. Money to 
begin this great work has already been appropriated 
by Congress. In addition to other advantages of 
location, the climate of Baltimore is peculiarly suit- 
able for manufacturing, and there is abundant labor. 
The abundance and cheapness of food in the Balti- 
more markets and low rents for homes affect the 
price of labor. 

At the entrance to Baltimore harbor the Patapsco 
river divides into the northwest, southwest and 
middle branches. The northwest branch pierces two 
and a half miles into the very heart of the business 
portion of the city, affording miles of water front, 
within easy reach of the main thoroughfares of the 
eastern and central sections. The southwest and 
middle branches envelope the southern and south- 
western sections, giving a long expanse of water 
front, in close proximity to the lines of the Baltimore 
and Ohio railroad. The main harbor, or that on the 



114 The State of Maryland 

northwest branch, is surrounded by the older por- 
tions of the city, and contains grain elevators, steam- 
ship piers, railroad terminals, dry dock, floating 
docks and marine railways. This harbor has a water 
front measured on the pier head line of six and a 
half miles, an area of 630 acres, and, while leaving 
ample fairways for the movement of vessels, fur- 
nishes 96 acres of anchorage grounds. The whole 
of the lower portion of the harbor, covering the ele- 
vators and steamship piers, has a depth of over 30 
feet at mean low water. The harbor along the south- 
west and middle branches has, within the city limits, 
and measured on the pier head line, a water front 
of five and a half miles, and nearly as much more 
on the opposite banks, in the county. It covers an 
area of 1,300 acres. The total water front within 
the city limits, if fully improved, would furnish at 
least 50 miles of wharf room, allowing docks of 150 
feet in width. In addition to these commercial facili- 
ties within the city,- there are nearly 10 miles of water 
front on the Patapsco, below the city, with railroads 
in operation near it, on both sides of the river. 

After the fire of February, 1904, the city issued a 
loan of $10,000,000 to acquire all the wharf property 
on the north side of the harbor south of Pratt street, 
and for other improvements, including the widening 
of Pratt and Light streets. The dock improvements 
will greatly increase the capacity of the inner harbor. 
Docks are being constructed which will be owned by 
the city and leased to the various steamboat and 
steamship companies, and it is estimated that the 
annual rentals will pay the interest on the dock loan 
and provide a sinking fund. 

The following gives the areas and measurements 
of the new piers and docks: 

Total area of piers, 1,026,882 square feet, or 23 ^/^ 
acres of pier space. 



The City Docks 115 

Total length of new water front, 12,523 lineal feet. 

Number of piers, six. 

Width of v/aterway between piers, 150 feet. 

Pier 1 — Total area, 78,445 square feet; total width, 
150 feet; total length, 550 feet. 

Pier 2— Total area, 126,788 square feet; total width, 
200 feet; total length, 635 feet. 

Pier 3 — Total area, 152,881 square feet; total width, 
200 feet; total length, 770 feet. 

Pier 4 — Total area, 193,599 square feet; area of 
streets, 68,225 square feet; area of power house of 
the United Railways and Electric Company, 69,088 
square feet; v/idth of pier, 210 feet; length of pier, 
925 feet. 

Pier 5 — Total area, 271,329 square feet; total width, 
205 feet; total length, 1,200 feet. 

Pier 6 — Total area, 202,840 square feet; average 
width, 150 feet; length, 1,450 feet. 

The piers will be located as follows: 

Pier 1, near the foot of South street. 

Pier 2, foot of Commerce street. 

Pier 3, foot of Gay street. 

Pier 4, foot of Frederick street. 

Pier 5, in the rear of Center Market space. 

Pier 6, along Jones' Falls. 

Pier 4 will be the public pier. The others are to be 
leased out by the Board of Estimates. 

There are, strictly speaking, no port charges at 
Baltimore, except clearance, register and license fees, 
paid to the Federal government through the Collector 
of the Port. These are the same at all ports of entry 
in the United States. What are ordinarily classed as 
port charges — ^that is, cost of wharfage, stevedoring, 
tonnage, etc. — fluctuate from time to time, but always 
within reasonable limits. There is, however, no 
charge for wharfage at elevators when grain is taken 



116 The State of Maryland 

on, and it is generally conceded that all incidental 
expenses of this kind are lower in Baltimore than at 
any other Atlantic port. 

The advantages of inland location have been em- 
phasized and developed for Baltimore by the con- 
struction of direct lines of railroads, placing the city 
in proximity, nearer by many miles than Northern 
and Eastern rivals, to the great productive sections 
of the country. By the shortest rail line, Baltimore 
is thus 96 miles nearer points in the South than 
Philadelphia, 180 nearer than New York and 413 
nearer than Boston. Y/ith respect to Cincinnati, its 
advantages over these cities are, respectively, 74, 164 
and 332 miles, and in regard to other Western points 
they are even more decided. The railroad facilities 
of Baltimore include five distinct standard-gauge 
railroads and one narrow-gauge road, now being 
changed to standard-gauge. The vantage ground 
upon which they place the commercial interests of 
the city have been vividly described, as follows: 

"Baltimore stands with her face to the south, and 
with one hand prepared to gather the products of 
nearly half of the United States and to send them 
forward to other nations, and in return with the left 
hand to bestow the peculiar products of the soil of 
Maryland and her sister States upon those States 
whose climate will not allow the growth of such 
luxuries. One iron finger runs almost due north, 
through the rich farming lands of central Pennsyl- 
vania and southwestern New York, until it touches 
the great lakes, with their ships loaded with grain. 
Another stretches out into manufacturing Pittsburg. 
328 miles distant, the coal, coke, lumber, iron and 
other mineral lands of southwestern Pennsylvania, 
western Maryland, West Virginia and Ohio, and away 
to Chicago, 830 miles, the central point for the grain, 
hay, cattle and other farm products of the great 
Northwest, and the flour of St. Paul and Minneapolis, 



The Fire of 1904 117 

1,296 miles from the seaboard. The third finger 
beckons to the stock-raisers of Kentucky and Ten- 
nessee, the active men of St. Louis, 931 miles to the 
west, and of Kansas City, 1,213 miles away, and bids 
them to turn towards Baltimore the rapidly increas- 
ing shipments of cattle and cereals from the empire 
of the Southwest. The index finger very appropri- 
ately follows the lines of the Appalachian system of 
mountains, which, ranging from the southwest to 
the northeast, give an outlet to Baltimore by the 
natural rift at Harper's Ferry, vrhose immense water 
power, gradually being utilized, must bear tribute 
to this city. Down through the beautiful, fertile and 
well-watered Shenandoah valley of Virginia the finger 
points, gathering in the proiits from the farm lands 
of the valley proper, the wood and minerals of the 
mountain slopes, the coal and iron of the south- 
western Virginia and southern West Virginia hills 
with the cattle of their plains, piercing the pine and 
hardwood regions of western North Carolina and 
South Carolina, east Kentucky and Tennessee, and 
finally touching the flourishing manufacturing and 
industrial centers of the new South — Birmingham, 
Anniston, Ensley and other towns and cities of Ala- 
bama, which have grown with the development of 
its natural resources. The broad thumb covers a 
fertile section embracing Richmond, Norfolk, Atlanta, 
Savannah and Charleston, and some of the finest 
traveling country on the Atlantic slope, extending 
from Norfolk to Florida." 

THE BALTIMORE FIRE, FEBRUARY, 1904. 

The Baltimore fire of February, 1904, may very 
properly be ranked among the great conflagrations 
of modern times. The fire originated in the dry goods 
warehouse of the John E. Hurst Company, at the 
corner of German and Sharp streets, between 10 and 
11 o'clock on Sunday morning, February 7. 



118 The State of Maryland 

Occurring on Siuiday, there were few or no em- 
ployes of the various industrial establishments on 
duty, and the fire is remarkable therefore for the 
absence of any casualties. Not a life was lost. But 
few homes were broken up. A few families residing 
in the burnt district were rendered homeless, but no 
destitution followed the fire. Generous offers of 
pecuniary assistance were made from various cities, 
but they were not accepted. The Legislature of Mary- 
laud granted a relief fund of $250,000, but less than 
$24,000.00 of it was used. About 80,000 wage-earners 
were temporarily thrown out of employment, but in 
most cases for a few days only, and the work of 
clearing away the ruins and rebuilding speedily fur- 
nished employment for many thousands of men. 

In the banking and financial centers of the fire- 
swept area the greatest anxiety prevailed for several 
days in regard to the safety of the securities and 
books in the vaults of these institutions. Time-locks 
prevented the opening of the vault doors on Sunday 
night, and the next morning when the bank buildings 
were in ruins it was known that in 10 of the national 
banks and in one other there were values of $53,- 
000,000, including loans and discounts, securities, 
clearing house exchanges and cash. These banks 
represented about $50,000,000 of deposits. In addi- 
tion to this, the Savings Bank of Baltimore, at the 
corner of Gay and Second streets, had in its vaults 
in jeopardy about $25,000,000; the Hopkins Savings 
Bank, $6,000,000, and others equally large sums. But 
the vaults stood the fire test for which, in part, they 
were designed. 

The bank buildings destroyed were as follov/s: 

National Exchange Bank. 

National Union Bank. 

National Bank of Baltimore. 

National Mechanics' Bank, 



statistics of the Fire 119 

National Bank of Commerce. 

Farmers and Merchants' National Bank. 

Merchants' National Bank. 

First National Bank. 

Third National Bank. 

National Marine Bank. 

German Bank of Baltimore. 

Besides these banks were the following financial 
institutions: 

Savings Bank of Baltimore. 

Hopkins Place Savings Bank. 

Maryland Savings Bank. 

Mercantile Trust and Deposit Company. ^ 

Continental Trust Company. 

Maryland Trust Company. 

Baltimore Trust and Guarantee Company. 

International Trust Company. 

Union Trust Company. 

There were also a number of private banking houses 
and many brokers involved in the fire, but in all 
cases it is believed the fire did not reach their valu- 
ables. 

The following are some statistics of the great fire 
in Baltimore on February 7-8, 1904: 

Area of Burnt District — Extreme length east and 
west, 3,800 feet. 

Extreme length north and south, 2,900 feet. 

Acres burned over, 139.90. 

Blocks or squares destroyed, 73, with 25 isolated " 
sections around the water front not classed as 
squares. Total, 98. 

Number of buildings, 1,343. 

The best general estimates place the total value of 
property of all kinds destroyed at $125,000,000. 

Property insured $50,000,000 

Insurance paid 32,000,000 

- Net loss $18,000,000 



120 The State of Maryland 

This statement of insurance and net loss is made 
by the general loss committee of insurance agents, 
but many claims were settled outside of this com- 
mittee of which they had no cognizance. 

BANKS BURNED. 

National 10 

Savings banks 3 

Trust and deposit 6 

State bank 1 

Total 20 

In addition, a number of private banking houses 
and many brokers' oflBces were burned. 

One church, the Messiah, Protestant Episcopal, 
corner of Gay and Fayette streets. 

Stores, warehouses, business firms, companies, 
manufacturers and individuals burned out aggregated 
more than 2,500. 

TRANSPORTATION OFFICES. 

Buildings occupied or owned by transportation 
companies destroyed included those of the 
Baltimore and Ohio Railroad. 
Pennsylvania Railroad. 
Atlantic Coast Line Railroad. 
Southern Railroad. 

Merchants and Miners' Steamship Company. 
International Mercantile Marine. 
Baltimore, Chesapeake and Atlantic Company. 
Seaboard Air Line. 
Baltimore Steam Packet Company. 
Many business offices on the water front. 

NEWSPAPERS BURNED OUT. 

The Sun, S. E. corner Baltimore and South streets. 
American, S. W. corner Baltimore and South streets. 
Herald, N. W. corner Fayette and St. Paul streets. 



Losses of the Hopkins 121 

Daily Record, S. W. corner Fayette and St. Paul 
streets. 

German Correspondent, corner Baltimore street and 
Postoffice avenue. 

Baltimore Journal, S. E. corner Baltimore /Street 
and Postoffice avenue. 

Evening News, Baltimore street. 

Telegram, Baltimore street. 

Every Saturday, Baltimore street. 

HOTELS DESTROYED. 

Carrollton, Light street. 

City Hotel, Baltimore street. 

Mullin's, Liberty street. 

National, HoUiday and Fayette streets. 

Junkers, Fayette street. 

Maltby House, Pratt street. 

St. Paul, St. Paul street. 

Maryland, S. Calvert street. 

The Merchants' Club, on German street, and numer- 
ous restaurants in all parts of the burnt district used 
by business men were includecf in the ruin. 

HOPKINS HOSPITAL LOSSES. 

The Johns Hopkins Hospital was one of the greatest 
losers of buildings, including valuable warehouses, 
stores and other structures. About 68 buildings be- 
longing to the hospital were burned. 

The value of this property aggregated about 
$1,300,000 and the net loss to the great institution 
about $500,000, which was made good by Mr. John 
D. Rockefeller, of New York. In a statement given 
to the public immediately after the fire the hospital 
officials said: 

"The money derived from the rental of these build- 
ings, which is estimated at $100,000 a year, was de- 
voted to the free work of the hospital, with about 
$35,000 derived from the rental of other property in 
control of the trustees." 



CHAPTER XII 
THE COUNTIES 



ALLEGANY COUNTY. 

Allegany county, lying between Garrett and' Wash- 
ington counties, with the Potomac river separating it 
from West Virginia on the south, and Pennsylvania 
bounding it on the north, was first settled about 1760. 
Skipton, now called Oldtown, probably was the first 
settlement. It is next to the westernmost county of 
the State. It was formed from Washington county 
by Act of Assembly in 1789. The county has an area 
of 520 square miles, with numerous mountain streams 
running through it. The population of Allegany in 
1900 was 53,694, and tke tax rate in 1905 was $1.04 on 
the hundred. Cumberland is the county seat. Frost- 
burg, Lonaconing, Westernport and Midland are also 
incorporated. 

The county is mountainous, with a stretch of broad 
bottom land from Cumberland to Keyser, W. Va., 
along the Potomac river, about tv/enty-five miles in 
length. There are also fertile bottom lands along 
Evitts, Flintstone, Town and Fifteen Mile creeks, in 
the northeastern sections of the county. There are 
many small farms in the short valleys and on the 
plateaus, and three mountain streams and many 
rivulets furnish water in abundance. The Potomac 
river is the southern boundary for seventy-five miles. 

Allegany contains largely the mineral wealth of 
Maryland. There is the great deposit of bituminous 
coal, fire clay, cement rock, iron ore, sandstone, lime- 
stone, etc., while the land which is devoted to agri- 



Lands, Products and Industries 123 

culture readily yields corn, wheat, rye, buckwheat, 
oats and grasses. There are 881 farms in the county, 
with an acreage of 160,348. 

Coal mining is the greatest industry in Allegany 
county, but on Dan's mountain are fossil ore and 
hematite, and also traces of silver are found in the 
eastern part of the county. The sandstone in this 
region is suitable for the manufacture of glass, which 
article was manufactured here as early as 1816. In 
addition to these minerals, there are also excellent 
qualities of fire clay, iron ore and shale for building 
bricks to be found. 

Six railroads cross the county, namely: the Balti- 
more & Ohio main line, the Pennsylvania Railroad 
in Maryland, Cumberland & Pennsylvania, the 
George's Creek & Cumberland, West Virginia Central 
& Pittsburg, the latter now a portion of the Western 
Maryland system which is controlled by the Wabash; 
the Western Maryland which extends from Cumber- 
land to the Baltimore harbor and will shortly be 
extended to join the Wabash system on the Ohio river 
probably at Pittsburg, and the Pittsburg branch of 
the Baltimore & Ohio. 

An electric railway overhead trolley extends from 
Cumberland to Westernport, traversing George's 
Creek Valley. The C. & O. canal traverses the county 
50 miles. 

In 1905 the United States Government took a census 
of manufactures of all establishments producing up- 
wards of $500 worth of products each year, with the 
following results for this county: 

Number of establishments, 125. 

Total capital invested, $9,611,532. 

Cost of materials used, $4,394,921. 

Value of product, $7,442,192. 

In the county there are 112 white public schools. 

Cumberland is the second largest city in the State, 
being a most thriving industrial center, with a con- 



124 The State of Maryland 

stantly increasing jobbing trade. Its population in 
1900 was 17,128. 

Glass, fire clay brick, rails and tin plate, building 
brick, silk, furniture and leather are the principal 
products and manufactures in the county. Inci- 
dentally in the clay measures of the region there are 
eight veins of pure fire clay, and works for developing 
this clay are in operation at Frostburg, Mt. Savage 
and Ellerslie. The lower, or smaller veins of coal are 
also being extensively developed. 

An extensive silk mill has been erected at Mt. 
Savage, the repair shops of the Cumberland & Penn- 
sylvania are located here, also the Union Mining Com- 
pany's Fire Clay Brick Works and the Mt. Savage 
Enameled Brick Works. 

The principal industries of the county are flour 
mills, steel cars and machinery, stone, brick and 
building material, lumber and v/ood working, railroad 
repair shops, breweries, distilleries and ice factories, 
tin plate and steel mills, steel rails, cement, tanneries, 
furniture, carpet weaving, carriages and wagons, 
canal boat building, foundries and machine shops, 
lamps and reflectors, mattresses and beds, paper and 
wood pulp, pottery, terra cotta and fire clay products, 
dyeing and tobacco manufactures. 

ANNE ARUNDEL COUNTY. 

Anne Arundel County, named for Lady Anne 
Arundel, whom Cecil Calvert married, was erected in 
1650, and has an area of about 360 square miles, one- 
sixth of which is water surface. The county was first 
settled in 1649, two miles from the present site of 
Annapolis, by a band of Puritans from Virginia. 

The county contains the State Capital, Annapolis, 
in which is located St. John's College, and the United 
States Naval Academy. 

The county fronts eastward on the Chesapeake bay, 
and within its territory are five rivers, the Severn, 



Lands, Products and Industries 125 

one of the most beautiful sheets of water of its size 
in the country, the Magothy, South, Rhode and West 
rivers. On the north and northeast is the Patapsco, 
and Howard county lies on the northwest; the Pa- 
tuxent river separates the county from Prince 
George's on the west. Calvert county is on the south. 
The surface of the county is rolling, and in parts of 
it level. It is well watered and wooded. 

The tax rate in 1905 was $1.14 on $100, in addition to 
which there is a road tax in each district. 

There are 113 white and 39 colored schools in the 
county. 

Annapolis, the State Capital, is the only incor- 
porated town in the county, but there are others 
growing in size and importance, such as Brooklyn, 
South Baltimore, Galloways, Friendship, Eastport, 
Germantown and Camp Parole. 

Annapolis was made the capital in 1694. In 1696, 
King William's school was founded in the town, one 
of the first in the State. In the State House at Annap- 
olis some of the most important events of Revolu- 
tionary days took place. In the Senate Chamber, 
Washington resigned his commission as Commander- 
in-Chief to the Continental Congress at the close of 
the Revolution. On the hill upon which the State 
House stands is erected a statue of Baron DeKalb, 
commander of the Maryland Line. 

The United States Naval Academy, occupying the 
Government Reservation adjoining the city, is a place 
of great interest to visitors all over the country. 

The population of Annapolis is 8,525. It was named 
for Queen Anne. 

The new Court of Appeals building, the new annex 
to the State House, Postoffice and Naval Academy 
buildings, recently erected, or in course of construc- 
tion, have greatly added to the beauty and progressive 
spirit of the town. 



126 The State of Maryland 

It is estimated that there are 4,500 farms in Anne 
Arundel county, and the population of the county is 
a little over 40,000. 

Tobacco, corn, wheat, fruit and vegetables are the 
natural products of the farm in this county. The pro- 
duction of strawberries being no less than 8,000,000 
quarts, more than in almost any other county in the 
United States. The soil is a sandy loam, easy to culti- 
vate, easy to enrich and admirably adapted to the 
growth of peaches and all kinds of fruit and vegeta- 
bles. Some of the earliest and finest berries and fruits 
find their way to the markets from here. The canning 
and packing of fruits and vegetables in connection 
with this industry is large and growing. 

Considerable numbers of oysters and fish are taken 
from the waters of Anne Arundel, and for the year 
ending May, 1904, it is reported that 43,500 bushels 
of oysters were packed or shipped. It is estimated 
that 150,000 bushels more were caught in Anne 
Arundel waters and sold in Baltimore city. 

About 2,000 persons are employed in taking and 
canning or packing of oysters and fish, and find a 
good living in this industry. 

In addition to the Tolchester Steamboat Company, 
the Annapolis, West and South River lines of boats, 
the county is reached by the Annapolis, Washington 
& Baltimore Railroad, the Pennsylvania and the 
Annapolis & Baltimore Short Line, thus offering 
ample facilities for reaching the market with the 
products and manufactures of the county. An electric 
railroad now building from Baltimore to Washington 
will cross Anne Arundel county. 

While the manufactures of Anne Arundel are not 
numerous, and are comprised in the following list, yet 
some of the largest manufacturing concerns of the 
State are located in South Baltimore, Anne Arundel 
county, which is a manufacturing center. 



Lands, Products and Industries 127 

The census of manufactures for 1905, made by the 
United States Census Bureau, shows: 
Number of establishments, 44. 
Total capital invested, $2,085,367. 
Cost of materials used, $1,607,607. 
Value of product, $2,391,875. 

BALTIMORE COUNTY. 

Baltimore county is the wealthiest and most popu- 
lous in Maryland. Its area is 622 square miles, and 
its population in 1900 was 90,755. Its industries are 
as diversified as are its scenery and soil. As an agri- 
cultural county it ranks among the first in the State, 
and in its territory there are many large and flourish- 
ing factories. It surrounds the city of Baltimore, 
and on all sides the city has extended beyond its 
boundaries into the county. To the east of the city 
there is a large gardening and trucking region in the 
low lying lands along the tidewater. To the south 
and southeast there are the great industries of Canton 
and Sparrows Point, north and west is a beautiful 
residential country, improved by flourishing villages 
and beautiful suburban homes. The products of the 
farms, gardens and dairies of Baltimore county is 
over $6,000,000 a year. Farm land sells all the way 
from $10 to $150 per acre and upward. Back from 
the water front the county is elevated, well wooded 
and watered, and the landscape superb. The farms 
are improved with good building and fencing. The 
soils are largely heavy red and yellow loams and clay, 
and very fertile and well adapted to all the cereals 
and grass. The proximity to Baltimore and its mar- 
kets, and the easy access by rail or water makes 
property in Baltimore county exceedingly valuable. 
The tax rate is always low, being 65 cents in 1905. 

Towson is the seat of government and is the termi- 
nus of the electric car line running from Baltimore 
city, from which it is only seven miles. It has a 
population of about 2,700. 



128 The State of Maryland 

Among the principal places of interest in the county 
are the suburban residential sections of Catonsville, 
Lutherville, Glyndon, Reisterstown, Mt. Washington, 
while the principal manufacturing points are High- 
landtown, Sparrows Point, Cockeysville, Warren, etc. 

There are many varieties of soils in Baltimore 
county, from the hard granite quarries to the rich 
loam of the valleys, adaptable to the production of 
all kinds of grain, fruits and vegetables. The surface 
of the county is elevated and rolling, watered by a 
large number of rivers and streams, principal among 
which are the Patapsco, Gunpowder and Gwynn's 
Falls, in many places offering fine water power for 
manufacturing purposes. Those sections adjacent to 
the water contains many productive truck farms. In 
recent years, a number of stock farms, raising fine 
cattle and horses, have been established. 

Much attention has been paid to dairy farming, and 
according to the census of 1900, upwards of $1,200,000 
worth of dairy foods were produced by 3,641 farms. 
About 25,000 gallons of milk are shipped daily from 
the county into the city, over the Northern Central, 
Western Maryland, Baltimore & Ohio, and Maryland 
& Pennsylvania railroads. 

The total number of farms in Baltimore county, 
according to the latest reports, is 4,496, of which 
4,422 have buildings on them. The total acreage of 
the farms is 340,206, of which 244,806 are improved. 
The value of the land improvements, except buildings, 
is $23,190,670. The value of the buildings is $9,295,- 
710; implements, $1,285,380; live stock, $2,259,295. 

Baltimore county is rich in minerals. A fine deposit 
of green marble is being developed at White Hall, and 
limestone is found in large quantities in many sec- 
tions of the county, as well as excellent clay. The 
famous Woodstock granite, Beaver Dam marble and 
crystalline marbles found elsewhere in the county 



Lands, Products and Industries 129 

have brought both reputation and wealth for many 
years. The Congressional Library, the Washington 
Postoffice, the Washington Monuments in Baltimore 
and Washington, and many other notable buildings 
throughout the country have been built with this 
granite and marble, the companies working these 
quarries being capitalized at upwards of $200,000, 
employing 250 hands and paying out an annual wage 
of about $125,000, 

The transportation facilities of the county are 
excellent, it being traversed by the Baltimore & Ohio, 
Philadelphia, Baltimore & Washington, Northern 
Central, Western Maryland, and Maryland & Penn- 
sylvania railroads, while all of the suburban towns 
are in close connection with Baltimore city by a net 
work of electric railways, which have given a 
tremendous impetus to suburban development. 

There are many educational institutions in the 
county, such as the Maryland College for Young 
Ladies at Lutherville, McDonogh School for orphan 
boys, Notre Dame of Maryland, Mt. St. Agnes at 
Mt. Washington, and a number of private schools 
scattered throughout the county. There are 149 
school houses owned by the county and 41 are rented 
for 190 white and 34 colored schools. The disburse- 
ments for school purposes for the year of 1905 being 
$321,775.77. 

There are many fishing shores and pleasure resorts 
along the shores of the Chesapeake bay and the 
numerous rivers traversing the county, where fish, 
ducks and birds are found in great quantities. The 
Gunpowder river and Patapsco river and Gwynn's 
and Jones' Falls furnish excellent water power sites 
for cotton and woolen factories, paper and flour mills, 
furnaces and foundries. 



130 The State of Maryland 

The recent census of manufactures gives the county 
credit for the following manufacturing establish- 
ments, producing upwards of $500 per annum. 

Number of establishments, 139. 

Total capital invested, $19,680,120. 

Cost of materials used, $44,504,463. 

Value of products, $52,705,032. 

CARROLL COUNTY. 

Carroll has a population of 33,860, mostly of Ger- 
man, Scotch-Irish and English descent. 

The area of Carroll is 426 square miles, and the 
number of farms is 3,352. It is located in Middle 
Northern Maryland, adjoining Pennsylvania on the 
north, with Baltimore county on the east, Frederick 
on the west and Howard on the south. It is a fine 
agricultural and grazing county, the principal farm 
crops being wheat, corn, rye, potatoes and hay. Fruits 
of all kinds do well, and dairy farming and cattle 
fattening are important industries. Much pork is 
also raised. Carroll is adapted to all sorts of crops, 
and the numerous towns furnish ready markets for 
butter, eggs, vegetables and fruits. 

The county lies high and is healthy. The land is 
rolling and is well watered by numerous streams, 
which also furnish excellent water power for mills 
and manufactories. Good land ranges in value from 
$25 to $100 per acre and ordinary from $10 to $20. 
Farm labor is from $10 to $15 per month, with board. 

There is a variety of soils. In some districts the 
red lands are found; in others, limestone, slate and 
flint. The upper part of the county is more hilly than 
the lower and is more highly improved. The lower 
part has much highly improved land also, and all of it 
susceptible of high cultivation. 

Iron ore, marble, soapstone, brown stone, blue and 
gray limestone are found in the county, and there is 



Lands, Products and Industries 131 

much fine timber of all varieties, principally oak, 
hickory, chestnut and locust. 

Westminster, the county seat, has a population of 
3,496. The other incorporated towns are Taneytown, 
population, 665; Union Bridge, 663; New Windsor, 
430; Manchester, 609; Hampstead, 480; Mt. Airy, 532. 
The unincorporated villages, ranging in population 
from 75 to 300, are Sykesville, Uniontown, Union 
Mills, Silver Run, Frizzellburg, Patapsco, Gamber, 
Finksburg, Harney, Melrose, Warfieldsburg and 
Greenmount. 

The railroad facilities of Carroll are good. The 
Western Maryland Railroad, now a part of the Wabash 
System, crosses the center of the county from east 
to west; the Baltimore & Ohio crosses the extreme 
lower part of the county; the Baltimore & Hanover 
branch of the Western Maryland runs along the 
eastern border, and the Frederick branch of the 
Pennsylvania Railroad runs along the western border, 
while the Bachman Valley Railroad extends into 
Carroll about five miles to the Chestnut Hill iron ore 
mines, which furnishes the most of its traffic. Sur- 
veys have been made for the Washington, Westmin- 
ster & Gettysburg Railroad, from Washington, via 
Westminster, to Gettysburg, and it will cross the 
center of the county, from north to south. 

Churches are numerous. All the leading denomi- 
nations are represented — Episcopal, Roman Catholic, 
Lutheran, Reformed, Methodist Protestant, Methodist 
Episcopal, Presbyterian, German Baptists, United 
Brethren and Church of God. 

Carroll county has fine educational facilities, rang- 
ing from the primary school of the strictly rural 
district to Western Maryland College, where the 
county has 26 pupils in addition to the two State 
pupils. The Westminster High School is at the head 
of the public school system. In addition, there is a 



132 The State of Maryland 

manual training school in Westminster, and there 
are graded schools at Manchester, Hampstead and 
Union Bridge; Western Maryland College; at New 
Windsor is New Windsor College, the successor of 
Calvert College; Maryland Collegiate Institute, at 
Union Bridge; Warfield College, near Freedom; the 
Westminster Theological Seminary, at Westminster, 
and 180 public schools, a high school, three graded 
schools, a manual training school and four colleges 
show that Carroll is well supplied with educational 
facilities. 

There are three national banks, a savings bank 
and a trust company bank in Westminster, a national 
bank in New Windsor, and two State banks in Taney- 
town, one each in Uniontown, Union Bridge, Man- 
chester, Hampstead, Union Mills and Sykesville, 
besides a private bank in Westminster and one in 
Mount Airy. The combined capital of the banks is 
$583,000; surplus and undivided profits, $382,606; 
deposits, $2,904,968. The deposits with the private 
bankers would probably bring the total deposits up to 
$3,000,000. 

There are many manufactures in Carroll, and those 
producing upward of $500 worth of product per annum 
are reported as follows in the census of 1905: 

Number of establishments, 123. 

Capital invested, $1,539,653. 

Cost of materials used, $1,613,707. ' 

Value of product, $2,322,869. 

The capital invested in canning plants is probably 
$225,000, and the output is about $257,000. The 
canning season is short, and about 1,000 persons are 
employed in the busy season. About $145,000 are paid 
in salaries and wages. 

The leading industries are a woolen mill, flouring 
mills, tanneries, railroad shops, butter and ice cream 
factories, fertilizer factories, harness and shirt factor- 
ies, lime kilns, quarries and a great variety of small 
industries. 



Lands, Products and Industries 133 

CECIL COUNTY. 

The boundaries of Cecil county are Pennsylvania 
(Mason & Dixon Line) on the north, Delaware on 
the east, the Susquehanna on the west and the Sassa- 
fras river, separating it from Kent on the south. The 
area is 375 square miles. The population in 1900 was 
24,662. Its tax rate last year was $1.20. 

Cecil is among the smaller counties in the point of 
area, and has a large water surface, the Elk, North 
East, Bohemia and their tributaries, with other smaller 
streams, traversing the county. The surface is roll- 
ing, becoming quite hilly toward the north and east. 
There is abundant water power on the numerous 
streams, much of which is utilized for mills. 

The schools are exceptionally abundant and fine, 
and every facility for education is freely offered. In 
addition to the 99 white and 16 colored common 
schools in Cecil there is West Nottingham Academy, 
near Colora, which was opened in 1741. The Jacob 
Tome Institute, at Port Deposit, is one of the best 
and most richly endowed secondary schools in the 
country. The county has establi^ed high schools at 
Elkton, North East, Chesapeake City and Cecilton. 
The Cecil County High School at Elkton is an elegant 
brick structure standing on spacious grounds, and a 
new high school building on a fine and roomy site is in 
course of erection at North East. The Elkton High 
School has a department of manual training. Elkton 
is the county seat. 

Cecil has in general a good soil, fitted for farming, 
trucking and fruit growing. There is a fair supply 
of timber, fine water power, navigable rivers and 
extensive shad and herring fisheries. 

The Philadelphia, Washington & Baltimore, the 
Baltimore & Philadelphia, the Baltimore & Ohio, the 
Philadelphia & Baltimore Central, and the Columbia & 
Port Deposit railroads traverse the county, giving it 



134 * The State of Maryland 

ample railroad facilities; while the Susquehanna, Elk, 
Bohemia, Sassafras and North East rivers and the 
Chesapeake & Delaware Canal afford water trans- 
portation. 

In 1900 the county contained 1,633 farms, with a 
reported acreage of 200,629 acres. The soil varies 
from yellow clay to disintegrated rock, and is gener- 
ally fertile. Much phosphate, lime and manure is 
used. The main products are corn, wheat, hay, toma- 
toes, potatoes and buckwheat. Cecil county timothy 
is famed throughout the country, is graded highest, 
and is largely grown in the upper districts. The 
shipments of dairy and creamery products to nearby 
cities reach upwards of $275,000 per annum. Farm 
lands sell from $10 to $60 per acre. 

The Port Deposit quarries yield the famous granite, 
unsurpassed for building purposes. Among the lead- 
ing industries of the county are those quarries, pulp 
and paper mills, strawboard, iron works, stoves, ship 
yards, flour mills, saw mills, creameries and canneries. 

The census of manufactures gives the following 
figures for 1905: 

Number of establishments, 71. 

Capital invested, $2,626,331. 

Cost of materials used, $1,953,700. 

Value of products, $2,753,578. 

There are two banks at Elkton, two at Port Deposit, 
the National Bank of Rising Sun, the National Bank 
of North East, and the National Bank of Chesapeake 
City. 

CALVERT COUNTY. 

Calvert county is one of the oldest in the State. 
There has been little immigration into it, and many 
of the names of the families are the same as those 
who settled here over 200 years ago. The county was 
first settled in 1654 and contains an area of 222 square 
miles. It is the smallest county in the State. Its 



Lands, Products and Industries 135 

eastern line is washed by the Chesapeake bay, and 
its southern and western sides by the Patuxent river. 

The county seat is Prince Frederick. Chesapeake 
Beach and Solomon's are incorporated towns. Other 
towns are Barstow, Broome's Island, Dunkirk and 
Lower Marlboro. 

There are 47 white and 18 colored schools in the 
county. The county tax rate for 1905 was 97% cents. 

The soil is productive and divided between sandy 
and clay loam, and, with a mild climate, is responsive 
to cultivation. 

Tobacco and cereals are the chief crops. Fruits and 
vegetables, which are grown quite plentifully, mature 
early. The oyster grounds surrounding Calvert 
county are among the best in the State. Timber is 
plentiful, and silica is found in extensive deposits. 

Tobacco has for nearly two hundred years been 
the principal product of Calvert county. Corn, wheat 
and fruits are also raised in liberal quantities. In 
late years, live stock and poultry raising have become 
a part of the farmer's occupation. The number of 
farms in the county reaches about 800. Land sells 
for $5 to $35 per acre. 

The Chesapeake Beach Railroad, which runs to 
Washington, crosses the northern part of the county. 
Lines of steamboats touch along the shores of Cal- 
vert's rivers and on the bayside. No farm is distant 
from a steamboat landing. Drum Point, at the mouth 
of the Patuxent, is one of the finest harbors in the 
United States. 

In the Patuxent river and along the bay shore 
Calvert has splendid oyster grounds which, it is 
expected, will be made productive by the oyster plant- 
ing law of 1906. It is believed that the oyster industry 
to be established under this law will make Calvert 
a rich county, and all of its real estate far more 
valuable than at present. What is mostly needed is 



136 The State of Maryland 

an influx of white laborers and settlers, who will 
utilize the natural advantages of the county and 
develop its industries. 

The census of manufactures for 1905 shows an 
annual product of only $37,000. The chief industry 
is ship building at Solomon's Island. 

CHARLES COUNTY. 

Charles county forms the southwestern portion of 
the western shore of the State, and is bounded on the 
west and partly on the south by the Potomac river, 
on the east, in part, by the Wicomico and the Patuxent 
rivers. Its area is 460 square miles, and it has most 
important resources in oysters, fish and water fowl. 

It is traversed by the Wicomico river, Nanjemoy, 
Port Tobacco and Mattawoman creeks. 

The population of Charles county is 18,316, accord- 
ing to the last census, and the total value of lands is 
estimated at $2,775,240, and the improvements at 
$1,216,610. The tax rate of the county for 1905 is $1.09 
Land sells at from $3 to $25 per acre. 

The only incorporated town in Charles county is 
La Plata, the county seat. 

The Government Naval Proving Ground and Powder 
Factory, at Indian Head, furnish employment for 
about 350 laborers and mechanics and twenty clerks, 
and necessitates an annual expenditure by the Govern- 
ment in this county of upwards of $140,000. 

There are 77 white and 30 colored schools in the 
county. 

The soil is loam, highly productive under cultiva- 
tion, the land being mostly favorable to farming, and 
generally level in the center of the county, while on 
either side there are small hills and valleys. In some 
sections of the county marl is found. 

There are 1,900 farms, with an acreage of 263,255 
acres in the county, and the important agricultural 
productions are tobacco, corn, wheat, oats, rye and 
fruits. 



Lands, Products and Industries 137 

The scarcity of farm labor, the sparse settlement, 
and the susceptibility of the land to intensive culti- 
vation make Charles a desirable county for immi- 
grants to settle in. 

In addition to water transportation facilities the 
middle section of the county is traversed by the Pope's 
Creek branch of the Philadelphia, Baltimore & Wash- 
ington Railroad, while the eastern section is traversed 
by a short line railroad under the management of the 
Washington and Point Lookout Company. 

The oyster and fish industries of Charles county 
furnish occupation for about one-tenth of the laboring 
people. Large quantities of fish and oysters are 
annually shipped from the waters of the Potomac, 
Wicomico and Patuxent rivers, there being nearly 200 
vessels and boats engaged in this industry, with 
upwards of 450 people employed therein. 

CAROLINE COUNTY. 

Caroline county is bounded on the east by Delaware, 
the north and west by Talbot and Queen Anne's 
counties, and by Dorchester on the south. Its area is 
320 square miles, and it has a population of about 
17,000. Several navigable streams flow through it, 
including the Choptank, the Nanticoke and the 
Tuckahoe. The surface of the land is level, the cli- 
mate mild, healthful and equable. The soil is sandy 
or light clay loam, easy to improve and easy to culti- 
vate. The price of farming lands ranges from $7 to 
$80 per acre. There are 1,863 farms, and the property 
of the county is assessed for taxation at a little more 
than five million dollars. The principal crops are 
wheat, corn, tomatoes, peaches, berries and various 
fruits. Over 7,000 acres were in tomatoes in 1905. 
The largest manufacturing industry is the basket and 
fruit package factory at Ridgely. 



138 The State of Maryland 

The census of manufactures for 1905, excluding the 
smaller establishments producing less than $500 worth 
per annum, shows: 

Number of establishments^ 129. 

Capital invested. $851,733. 

Cost of materials used, $1,038,485. 

Value of product, $1,545,307. 

There are in the county about 50 canneries, the 
annual output of which is valued at nearly $900,000. 

Schools and churches are of easy access to every 
farm. There are 74 schools for white and 20 for 
colored children, including a high school, manual 
training school and several private schools. 

There are six banks in the county. 

The county tax rate in 1905 was $1.00 on $100, and 
that rate is seldom exceeded. 

The county seat is Denton, on the Choptank river. 
It has a population of about 1,000. 

Steamboats ply between Denton and Baltimore, and 
it lies upon the Maryland, Delaware & Virginia Rail- 
road, which gives access to Baltimore in about three 
hours, via steamer from Love Point. 

Transportation facilities are ample and the markets 
of Baltimore, Washington, Wilmington and Phila- 
delphia are of cheap and easy access. No less than 
three railroads cross the county, namely, the Delaware 
& Chesapeake, a brancTi of the Pennsylvania system 
running from Seaford, Delaware, to Oxford, the 
Maryland, Virginia and Delaware road running from 
Love Point on the Chesapeake to Rehoboth on the 
Atlantic, and the Baltimore, Chesapeake & Atlantic. 

The principal towns in Caroline are Denton, Greens- 
borough, Marydel, Goldsborough, Ridgely, Hillsbor- 
ough, Burrsville, Preston, Federalsburg, Choptank, 
Bethlehem. 



Lands, Products and Industries 139 

DORCHESTER COUNTY. 

Dorchester county, on the Eastern Shore, is the 
fourth county in size in the State, having an area of 
618 square miles. Its population is 30,800, and the 
tax rate for 1905 was $1.06 1/^. There are 133 white 
public schools and 41 colored schools. 

The surface of the county is slightly undulating, 
with but little elevation, the highest point in the 
county being but thirty feet above the sea level. That 
part bordering on the Chesapeake bay and the inland 
rivers and creeks is very low and much of it is marshy. 
Small rivers and creeks penetrate far into the interior 
of the county. Agriculture is the principal business 
of the people. There are many square miles of river 
and bay bottoms covered with oysters or suitable for 
oyster culture. 

The soil is heavy in some portions and light in 
others, the county being well adapted to the raising 
of small fruits, berries, tomatoes, etc. 

The number of farms in the county is 2,074, the 
principal products of which are cereals, hay, vege- 
tables, fruits and melons. The estimated value of 
these products amounted during the year of 1905 to 
about $1,950,000. The number of hands employed 
on the farms is 5,250, classing the tenants as employes. 
Farm lands sell from $5 to $30 per acre. 

The incorporated towns in this county are Cam- 
bridge, East New Market, Hurlock and Secretary. 

The transportation facilities through Dorchester 
county for reaching the markets of the East, as well 
as Baltimore, are excellent and include the Cambridge 
& Seaford branch of the P., B. & W. Railroad, B., C. & 
A. Railway, Eastern Shore Transportation Company, 
and other packet vessels, with ample freight and pas- 
senger facilities. 



140 The State of Maryland 

The United States Census gives the manufactures 
of Dorchester in 1905 as follows, not including the 
smaller establishments and repair shops: 

Number of establishments, 89. 
Capital invested, $905,370. 
Cost of materials used, $879,252. 
Value of products, $1,372,371. 

Oyster taking, marketing and shipping enters 
largely into the daily life of the people in this county, 
and makes one of its most important industries. The 
number of persons engaged in catching, marketing, 
shucking and planting of oysters is 4,910, including 
805 men engaged in shucking. 

The total oyster pack for the season of 1906 was 
about 415,000 bushels, the value of which was about 
60 cents per bushel, or $250,000. 

A conservative estimate of the number of barrels 
of different kinds of fish shipped annually from this 
county puts it at 1,500 barrels, at a value of $12 per 
barrel, which makes a total of $18,000. 

The business of catching, shipping and packing of 
crabs has been revived in Dorchester, and at least 
1,500 men and children find employment during the 
season. Each individual crabber ships his own 
"catch," as a rule, although there are scores of buyers 
who cater to local markets. 

The number of cases of tomatoes, each containing 
two dozen cans, packed in this county during the 
season of 1905 was 125,000. 

FREDERICK COUNTY. 

In area Frederick is the largest of the counties 
of Maryland. In population and wealth it ranks 
next to Baltimore county. In the fertility and pro- 
ductiveness of its lands it ranks among the first in 
the Union, and especially in the production of wheat. 
The area of this great county is 633 square miles and 



Lands, Products and Industries 141 

its population in 1900 was 51,920. TJie great body 
of the people are of German, English and Scotch- 
Irish descent, the progeny mostly of the early settlers. 
The great body of the land is of fine limestone quality, 
and the greater part of the county is a valley of rolling 
lands lying between the Linganore hills and the 
Catoctin mountain. This splendid valley is drained 
by the Monocacy river, and is one of the best farmed 
and most highly improved and productive areas of 
the Union. The great crops are wheat and corn. 
Between the Catoctin and South mountain lies the 
valley of Middletown, famous for its beauty of land- 
scape, as well as for its fertility and splendid im- 
provements. 

Churches of all denominations are abundant and 
every facility for education is provided. There are 
185 white and 28 colored public schools. In Frederick 
city there is the County High School, the Woman's 
College, several Catholic schools, the State School 
for the Deaf and Dumb, a magnificent institution; 
County Asylum and two hospitals. The population 
of Frederick is about 10,000. It is a wealthy city, 
containing five national banks, having on deposit 
about $4,000,000. The county is well provided with 
transportation facilities. Across the entire county, 
in the northern part, runs the Western Maryland 
Railroad, leading eastward to Baltimore and west- 
ward to Cumberland and into Pennsylvania. From 
the main line of the Western Maryland extends a 
branch giving access to the thriving town of Emmits- 
burg, the seat of Mount St. Mary's College and of a 
fine Catholic school for girls. Extending across the 
county, in the southern portion, is the main line of 
the Baltimore and Ohio, from which a branch three 
miles long leads into Frederick city. The Metropoli- 
tan branch of the Baltimore and Ohio, leading direct 
from Washington, enters the southwestern corner 
of the county and brings Frederick city within easy 



142 The State of Maryland 

access of that town. The Pennsylvania road has 
a branch leading from York to Frederick city, giving 
the latter place access to its great system. For about 
15 miles the Chesapeake and Ohio canal lies in 
Frederick county. Westward from Frederick city 
an electric road crosses Middletown valley and two 
mountains, and connects with Hagerstown and its 
system of trolley lines. This road is to be extended 
eastward into Baltimore. Centering at Frederick 
city there is a splendid system of macadamized roads. 

The county is dotted over with thriving and pic- 
turesque villages. The farms are admirably im- 
proved and splendidly cultivated. Lands range in 
price from $25 to $120 per acre. The soil of the main 
valley — ^that of the Monocacy — is of limestone. Mid- 
dletown valley is a freestone soil, but as fertile as 
the valley of the Monocacy. 

Frederick county is bounded on the north by Penn- 
sylvania, on the east by Carroll county, on the south 
by Montgomery county and Virginia, and on the west 
by Washington county, the crest of South mountain 
being the dividing line. 

Frederick county, according to the United States 
census for 1905, which did not include all the smaller 
establishments and custom or repair shops, shows 
the following figures for the county as to larger manu- 
factures: 

Number of establishments, 127. 
Capital invested, $2,292,542. 
Cost of materials used, $2,055,250. 
Value of products, $3,332,842. 

A report of the United States Census Department 
recently shows that in 1899 the acreage, bushels and 
percentage of yield of corn in Frederick county was 
greater than any county in the State. From 57,484 
acres was grown 2,279,040 bushels of corn. 



Lands, Products and Industries 143 

The census report on wheat the same year shows 
that Frederick was the banner county in the State 
in the acreage, amount and percentage of yield of 
wheat. From 92,620 acres was grown 1,314,280 bushels, 
or 11.4 per cent, of total yield of the State. 

In 1905 the wheat -crop was about the average, but 
the corn crop was the largest in the history of the 
county, 

GARRETT COUNTY. 

Garrett county comprises the western end of the 
State. It is bounded on the north by the Mason and 
Dixon Line, which separates it from Pennsylvania; 
on the west by West Virginia; on the south and 
southwest by West Virginia, and on the east by Alle- 
gany county. The geographical survey divides the 
county into the Potomac Valley District, the Savage 
Valley District, the Glades Valley District, the 
Castleman Valley District and the Youghiogheny 
Valley District. Along the western boundary of the 
county there is an elevation of over 3,000 feet above 
the sea level. This includes the crest-line of the 
Great Backbone and Big Savage mountains. Be- 
tween these mountains lie a range of broad, flat- 
topped or gently arching hills. 

The entire county is mountainous, but everywhere 
over the surface, covering hill and valley alike, is 
found a coating of soil varying in depth and grading 
imperceptibly into the underlying or resting directly 
upon the surface of the rocks. In the valleys the soil 
is usually deep and productive, and on the mountain 
slope it is shallow and stony. In some places the soil 
is stained a deep red, not altogether unlike the under- 
lying beds of shale and sandstone. In other places 
the productive clays seem to bear no relation what- 
ever to the deeply buried limestone, while on the 
mountain tops the soils seem but a mass of broken 



144 The State of Maryland 

gray sandstone, mixed with small amounts of sand 
and clay. It is this soil covering with which the 
farmer has to deal. 

Mr. Clarence ¥/. Dorsey, in an article on Garrett 
county, says: 

"Its surface is that of a broad, rolling plateau. * * 
The greater part of the country is well drained, but 
there are several areas of considerable size in the 
central portion which are considered swampy; these 
are known as glades. * * * A large portion of 
the county is included within farm boundaries, and 
more than half of the farm area is not improved. 
The average sized farm is about 150 acres, but there 
are many which are over 1,000 acres. * * ♦ The 
soils consist mostly of sandy loams." 

The soils of Garrett county, in the valleys, yield 
easily to cultivation, and the principal products are 
buckwheat, oats, hay and potatoes, and a fair yield, 
in some sections, of wheat, rye and corn. 

The principal manufactures of the county emanate 
from the forests, which are plentiful, and consist of 
lumber, shingles, staves and the mining of coal and 
shale. 

One of Garrett's chief sources of wealth is her 
minerals, coal, fire-clay and limestone. The Georges 
Creek coal fields lie along the boundary line between 
Garrett and Allegany counties, the major portion 
being in the latter county, but considerable of the 
coal being in Garrett. The Georges Creek coal is 
known all over the United States as being of a su- 
perior quality. Along the Potomac river, the south- 
eastern boundary of Garrett, lies another field of 
coal, which is just being developed, it may be said. 

While practically throughout the entire county 
coal may be found, as yet it is undeveloped, it being 
the smaller veins, and only worked where it lies 
near to railroads. It can be said Garrett's resources 




■^*m 






Lands, Products and Industries 145 

are inexhaustible. It is only within the past few 
years that the small seams of coal are being worked, 
and as the years pass and the large veins become 
exhausted, it naturally follows that the small veins 
will be opened up more extensively. 

Fire-clay is found in abundance in some portions 
of the county, notably the northeastern section. 
Limestone is plentiful. 

According to the census of 1900 there were 1,788 
farms in the county, the estimated value of which, 
in 1903, was about $4,671,500, and the total assessed 
value of property in the county amounted to $7,612,488. 

Garrett has good facilities for reaching the markets 
of the East and West, being traversed by the main 
line of the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad from east to 
west. The Western Maryland Railroad follows the 
Potomac river along the southeastern boundary of 
the county. The Confluence and Oakland Railroad 
runs from Confluence, Pa., to Krug, and Jennings 
Brothers railroad from the Baltimore and Ohio, at 
West Salisbury, up to Castleman Valley to a point 
near Bittinger. The old National Turnpike traverses 
the northern part of the county from east to west. 

On account of the vast amount of humus in the 
soil in the "Glades" the land is of great value for 
producing such crops as require a moist and cool 
climate. There is great opportunity for truck farm- 
ing in Garrett county,. as well as the raising of stock. 
Dairying could be profitably engaged in. Land is 
plentiful and can be bought cheap, say from $5 to 
$40 per acre, and as the county offers considerable 
advantages for the raising of fruits, berries and 
vegetables, these industries could be profitably en- 
gaged in. Oakland being but 11 hours from New 
York, and less to Baltimore and Washington, the 
mountain fruits and vegetables could be easily trans- 
ported at profitable prices to these markets. 



146 The State of Maryland 

The government census of manufactures for 1905 
contains the following statistics of Garrett: 

Number of establishments, 40. 
Capital invested, $1,057,146. 
Cost of materials used, $619,140. 
Value of products, $1,645,225. 

The manufacturing and mining industries com- 
prise the principal industries of the county. 

The population of Garrett by the census of 1900 was 
17,701. It is rapidly growing, and the county is 
increasing in wealth as its great resources are devel- 
oped. The population is almost exclusively white, 
there being not more than a few dozen negroes among 
them. There are 132 white and one colored public 
school in the county. Oakland, the county seat, is a 
pretty town on the glades, with a delightful summer 
climate. The nights in midsummer are cool and 
delightful all over this mountainous country. Deer 
Park and Mountain Lake Park, also on the glades, are 
noted summer resorts. 

HARFORD COUNTY. 

Harford is one of the most beautiful and fertile 
counties in the whole land. Except that portion 
which borders on the Chesapeake, it lies high and is 
well drained and exceedingly healthy. The landscape 
is superb, the farm improvements excellent and the 
people are prosperous. Land can be bought from $5 
to $75 per acre. It has an area of 388 miles, occupying 
that part of Maryland lying between Baltimore county 
and the Susquehanna river. It extends from the 
Pennsylvania line to the Chesapeake bay, which forms 
its southeastern boundary. The population in 1900 
was 28,269. There are 106 white and 18 colored 
schools. 

The number of farms in the county in 1900 was 
2,431, with an acreage of 248,925. The principal prod- 



Lands, Products and Industries 147 

ucts are corn, wheat, hay, oats, rye and tomatoes, 
the total value of which, canned and sold in the raw 
state, for the year 1903, approximated $3,500,000. In 
the past thirty years canning has been engaged in 
more and more, until now it forms one of the chief 
industries of the county. The value of the finished 
product in this industry alone approximates from 
$1,500,000 to $2,000,000. 

A large number of beef cattle are raised for the 
market. This is of a high grade in quality, and finds 
a ready sale for export purposes. 

Considerable slate and serpentine rock are found 
near the Pennsylvania line, and the demand for the 
slate is always greater than the supply. 

Deposits of chrome have also been found in the 
upper parts of the county. Throughout different parts 
of the county there is an excellent grade of building 
stone. 

On the Susquehanna flats congregate annually great 
flocks of canvas-back and other ducks. The hunting 
of this wild fowl gives subsistence to a number of 
people, and is supposed in one way and another, 
together with the flshing industries in the spring at 
Havre de Grace and Lapidum, to yield $150,000 
annually. 

The incorporated towns of the county are Belair, 
the county seat, and Aberdeen. Havre de Grace is a 
city situated at the mouth of the Susquehanna river. 
Other towns in the county not incorporated are 
Abingdon, Churchville, Harford Furnace, Ferryman, 
Forest Hill, Fallston, Darlington, Jarrettsville. 

The Philadelphia, Baltimore and Washington Rail- 
road, the Baltimore and Ohio, and the Maryland and 
Pennsylvania railroads traverse the county and make 
excellent facilities in reaching the market with the 
products of the farm and the factory. 



148 The State of Maryland 

The manufactures of Harford county by the census 
of manufactures for 1905, excluding all smaller manu- 
facturing establishments, gives the following figures: 

Number of establishments, 183. 
Capital invested, $2,584,159. 
Cost of materials used, $2,131,674. 
Value of products, $3,042,692. 

HOWARD COUNTY. 

Howard county lies between Baltimore, Carroll, 
Frederick, Montgomery, Prince George's and Anne 
Arundel counties. The Patapsco river forms its 
northern border, and it is partly traversed by two 
small branches of the Patuxent river. Another branch 
of the same river separates the county from Mont- 
gomery. The area of Howard counfy is about 250 
square miles, and its topography is hilly and broken, 
with forests and fertile hillsides. The land of the 
county is especially adapted to raising wheat, corn 
and hay. The price of farming lands ranges from $15 
to $100 per acre. 

The population of the county was 16,715 in 1900. 
There are 1,214 farms in the county, embracing 
147,000 acres in round numbers. Very little tobacco 
is now raised in Howard, the principal products are 
wheat, corn, hay and dairy products. 

The county tax rate for 1905 was 75 cents, and 
there are 57 white and 13 colored schools in the county. 

In granite, marble and building stones and feldspar 
Howard is rich. The granite deposits are of im- 
portance. Immense quantities of this stone are being 
quarried annually from EUicott City, Guilford and 
other localities. The stone varies in texture; that 
quarried at Ellicott City and Guilford being suited 
for building purposes, while the quarries of Atholton 
produce a fine, white stone suited for monumental 



Lands, Products and Industries 149 

The United States census for 1905, enumerating 
the manufacturing concerns only that produce upward 
of $500 worth of product per year, give the following 
figures: 

Number of establishments, 17. 

Capital invested, $825,680. 

Cost of materials used, $740,329. 

Value of products, $1,436,613. 

An estimate made by a citizen of Howard county 
gives the following figures for industries in the 
county: 

Cotton Goods — Capitalization, $350,000; employes, 
700; amount paid annually in wages, $160,000. 

Granite Quarries — Capitalization, $100,000; em- 
ployes, 500; annual wages, $200,000. 

Feldspar Quarries — Capitalization, $100,000; em- 
ployes, 500; annual wages, $50,000. 

The main line of the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad 
skirts along the entire northeastern border of Howard 
and the Washington branch is on its southern border. 
There is an electric road from Ellicott City, the 
county seat, to Baltimore, with cars running at short 
intervals. From Laurel, which is partly in Howard, 
there is an electric line to Baltimore. The soil of 
Howard county is good and productive. The county 
is well wooded and watered, the landscape fine, the 
country healthy. A more pleasant, healthy and 
accessible country to live in it would be hard to find. 

St. Charles' and Woodstock colleges, both fine Cath- 
olic institutions, are in Howard county, the former 
near Ellicott City and the latter at Woodstock. 

Redemptorist College, at Ilchester, Howard county, 
is a Catholic theological school. 

KENT COUNTY. 

Kent county has an area of 315 square miles, of 
which about 65 miles are water. It is located in the 
northern portion of the Eastern Shore. The first 



150 The State of Maryland 

settlement within the present limits of Maryland was 
made on Kent Island, now in Queen Anne's county, 
in 1628 by Virginians, under the leadership of William 
Clayborne. Calvert claimed the island as part of 
his grant, and the contention was not ended until 
1647, when Clayborne was dispossessed. The county 
now has a population of 19,000. The county town, 
Chestertown, was laid out in 1706. 

The county tax rate for 1905 was $1.15. There are 
68 white and 20 colored schools in the county. 

The incorporated towns of Kent are Chestertown, 
with 3,000 inhabitants; Galena, with 500, and Milling- 
ton, with 700. Other towns are Rock Hall, Still Pond, 
Kennedyville, Chesterville, Betterton, Lankford, Po- 
mona, Worton Station, Lynch, Massey, Fairlee, Mel- 
tota, Edesville and Golts. 

Kent county is separated from Delaware on the 
east by a line run by Mason and Dixon. The western 
boundary of the county is formed by the upper por- 
tion of the Chesapeake bay, while the Sassafras river 
separates it from Cecil county and the Chester river 
from Queen Anne's county. The county is located 
between the parallels of 39° and 39° 22' north lati- 
tude, and between the meridians of 75° 45' and 76° 16' 
west longitude. 

While wheat and corn are the staple crops, the 
county is well set in peach and pear trees, and nearly 
every farmer has five or more acres in tomatoes. 
Asparagus beds are found on many farms, while 
dairying, stock raising and sheep raising enter largely 
into the industries of the county. The waters teem 
with fish, oysters, crabs and turtle. The number of 
farms is estimated to be 956, of an average acreage 
of 179 acres. The value of these farms is from $25 
to $60 per acre. 

The crab, fish and oyster industry supply a means 
of livelihood for 1,000 persons. 



Lands, Products and Industries 151 

Kent county is bounded by over 80 miles of coast 
line. The head of navigation on both the Sassafras 
and Chester rivers is not reached until near the 
Delaware line, and the entire western limit of the 
county is formed by the Chesapeake bay. 

Five or six steamboat lines carry freight and pas- 
sengers to Baltimore and Philadelphia, and during 
the grain and fruit seasons extra freight steamers 
are provided. Two railroads cross the county, one 
having its terminals at Chestertown and at Town- 
send, while the other connects Centreville, Queen 
Anne's county, with the trunk lines farther north, 
entering Kent county at Millington, and crossing the 
Delaware line at Golts. The railroads cross each 
other at Massey, and together furnish communication 
with the Pennsylvania system. 

The canning of fruits and vegetables is the main 
manufacturing industry of the county. There are 
also several large establishments manufacturing 
crates and baskets, straw boards, etc., the latter being 
one of the largest establishments of its kind in the 
State. 

The manufactures of the county producing up- 
wards of $500 worth of product each year, and ex- 
cluding certain repairing and custom shops, is thus 
stated by the census of 1905: 

Number of establishments, 38. 

Capital invested, $846,990. 

Cost of materials used, $424,436. 

Value of products, $627,737. 

Chestertown, the county seat of Kent, is beautifully 
situated on Chester river, within a few hours by 
steamboat from Baltimore. It is a most attractive 
town, and the seat of Washington College, one of 
the most venerable of American schools, dating back 
to 1780. Since 1890 young women, as well as young 
men, have been admitted to its courses. 



152 The State of Maryland 

MONTGOMERY COUNTY. 

Montgomery is one of the two counties of Maryland 
which border on the District of Columbia. It has 
profited enormously by that vicinage, receiving a 
large overflow population from Washington. This 
population is most desirable, and consists of persons 
employed by the United States in the departments 
and by lawyers and Washington business people who 
prefer homes in the country. For a place for homes 
Montgomery is most desirable. The climate is pleas- 
ant and healthy, the land lies high, and there are 
no swamps, no malaria and no mosquitoes. The 
county is dotted over with well-kept farmhouses on 
well-tilled farms, and with scores of towns and vil- 
lages. The construction of the Metropolitan branch 
of the Baltimore and Ohio a number of years ago 
opened up the county to these new residents, and 
brought lime down from Frederick county, which 
has greatly increased the yield of wheat. Upon land 
which was in former years regarded as almost value- 
less the yield of wheat is now 30 to 40 bushels to 
the acre. Wheat, corn, hay, milk, orchards and 
garden products are the chief sources of wealth to 
the people. The close proximity of the Washington 
market makes the production of milk, poultry, vege- 
tables and fruit most profitable. Farm land sells, 
according to quality, location and improvements, at 
from $10 to $100 per acre. 

Montgomery has an area of 508 square miles. It 
is bounded on the southwest by the State of Vir- 
ginia, from which it is separated by the Potomac; 
on the northwest by Frederick county; on the north- 
east by Howard county, from which it is separated 
by the Patuxent, and on the southeast and south by 
Prince George's county and the District of Columbia. 

The population of the county, according to the 
Federal census of 1900, was 30,451, and the tax rate 
for 1905 was 99^ cents on the $100. 



Lands, Products and Industries 153 

Rockville, the county seat, is a beautiful little 
town, with pretty homes and shaded streets and a 
cultivated society. It is on the Baltimore and Ohio, 
about 15 miles from Washington, with which it is 
also connected by an electric road. 

Every facility for education is offered. The publit 
free school system has 112 schools for whites and 29 
colored schools. In addition, there are the following 
schools: Rockville High School, Rockville Academy, 
Brookville Academy, Rockville Institution for Young 
Ladies, Rockville Kindergarten, Briarly Hall for 
Young Ladies, Poolesville; Andrew Small Academy, 
Darnestown; Fair View Seminary, Oakmont. 

Montgomery county has 2,085 farms, containing 
283,469 acres, valued at $9,491,930, exclusive of build- 
ings, worth $3,525,170. 

Sandstone, marble and slate are quarried in upper 
Montgomery; chrome is found in several localities. 

The Great Falls of the Potomac is one of the largest 
available water-powers in the country. The develop- 
ment and utilization of this mighty agency for manu- 
facturing purposes, already undertaken by an organi- 
zation of business men with large capital, must pro- 
mote the material prosperity of the county. 

There are five banks and savings institutions in 
the county, with a combined capital of $225,000, and 
the savings institution at Sandy Spring has deposits 
of $690,000, the combined deposits of all of them 
being $1,709,000. 

The Mutual Fire Insurance Company of Montgom- 
ery County, with office at Sandy Spring, Md., was 
chartered and commenced operations in the year 1848. 

The manufactures of Montgomery of larger size 
are enumerated by the census in 1905 as follows: 

Number of establishments, 31. 
Capital invested, $260,979. 
Cost of materials used, $275,316. 
Value of products, $381,095. 



154 The State of Maryland 

PRINCE GEORGE'S COUNTY. 

Prince George's, like Montgomery county, adjoins 
the District of Columbia and also receives vast ad- 
vantage from that proximity. Washington furnishes 
a market for its food products, and a vast number of 
people doing business in the city or holding govern- 
ment positions build houses and make their homes 
in the county. Its area is 480 square miles and its 
population in 1900 was 29,898. Along the Washington 
branch of the B. & O. road there is a succession of 
suburban towns. 

The county is bounded on the west by the Potomac 
river, on the east by the Patuxent. Montgomery, 
Howard, Anne Arundel, Charles and Calvert counties 
and the District of Columbia surround it. 

The tax rate in 1905 was 90 cents. There are 110 
white and 37 colored schools in the county. At Upper 
Marlboro, the county seat, there is an academy. 

There are 2,374 farms in the county, producing 
tobacco, corn, wheat and vegetables, the estimated 
value of the crops for 1905 being $1,500,000, and 
giving employment to (including owners and tenants) 
at least 5,000 persons. Farm lands sell from $4 to $30. 

The total number of manufacturing establishments 
in the county is estimated at 60, the greater number 
of them being small, employing only one or two 
men. According to the census of 1905, of factories 
producing more than $500 a year, the following sta- 
tistics are given: 

Number of establishments, 42. 

Capital invested, $783,022. 

Cost of materials used, $173,138. 

Value of products, $359,747. 

The two principal industries are the Laurel Cotton 
Mill and the Muirkirk Iron Furnace. 

There are a number of railroads in Prince George's. 
The Washington branch of the Baltimore and Ohio 



Lands, Products and Industries 155 

crosses the upper section. Across the center of the 
county is the Pennsylvania, with a branch from 
Bowie to the southern boundary. The Washington, 
Potomac and Chesapeake leads from Brandywine 
down through Charles and St. Mary's. The Chesa- 
peake Beach road runs across the county from Wash- 
ington, through Marlboro, to the Patuxent and on 
to the bay. From Laurel to Washington there is an 
electric road and another electric road is building 
across the county. 

QUEEN ANNE'S COUNTY. 

A more beautiful and desirable land to live in than 
Queen Anne's county it would be hard to find. It is 
healthy, accessible to market, the soil is fertile and 
easy to cultivate, the farms are well improved, the 
roads are good, schools and churches convenient to 
all the people and taxes are low. The county extends 
from the Chesapeake to Delaware, with Kent county, 
from which it is separated by Chester river, to the 
north, and Talbot and Caroline to the south. There 
is a line of steamers from Centreville, the county seat, 
on Corsica river, to Baltimore, and a branch of the 
Pennsylvania road connects the town with the N. Y., 
P. & N. road at Townsend, Del. Steamers also ply 
from Queenstown, Love Point and other places in the 
county to Baltimore, and the Maryland, Virginia and 
Delaware (formerly the Queen Anne's Railroad) 
crosses the county from Love Point to the ocean. 
From Love Point the railroad is connected by steam- 
boats with Baltimore. 

The county has a population of nearly 19,000, and 
an area of 422 square miles, of which 46 are water 
surface. The tax rate in the county for 1905 was 90 
cents. 

There are 77 white and 21 colored schools in the 
county. 



156 The State of Maryland 

Centreville, Sudlersville, Church Hill, Crumpton, 
Queenstown, Stevensville and Queen Anne are among 
the incorporated towns, while Templeville, Winches- 
ter, Chester and Ruthsburg are among those not 
incorporated. 

Wheat, corn, hay, fruit and vegetables constitute 
the principal products of agriculture. 

There are 1,475 farms in the county, employing 
4,725 hands, and the value of the crops in 1905 was 
estimated at $1,900,000. 

Oysters and fish are plentiful, and 1,500 to 2,000 
persons find employment in the industry. 

The packing industry of Queen Anne's is also a 
growing one, at least 65,000 cases of tomatoes, fruits 
and vegetables having been packed in the county in 
1905. Fruits and vegetables may be shipped daily 
to the great markets of the East and North in time 
to be received fresh and ready for use at those points 
the next morning. 

The manufacturing industries of the county, accord- 
ing to the United States report for 1905, of all those 
of larger size are as follows: 

Number of establishments, 29. 
Capital invested, $259,280. 
Cost of materials used, $272,282. 
Value of products, $376,638. 

SOMERSET COUNTY. 

Somerset is the most southern county of Maryland. 
Its soil is mainly sandy, being well adapted to the 
production of fruit and vegetables. It is easily worked 
and can be readily improved. Large quantities of 
strawberries and other small fruit, as well as vege- 
tables, are produced. Land is cheap, ranging in value 
from $4 to $20 per acre. The cheap land, mild climate 
and other favorable conditions are attracting many 
settlers from the Western States as well as from 
foreign countries. 



Lands, Products and Industries 157 

Somerset has a population of about 28,000, one-half 
of which is engaged in the oyster, crab and fish busi- 
ness, and the county tax rate for 1905 was $1.02%. 

Princess Anne, the county seat, and Crisfield are the 
only incorporated towns in the county. 

There are 86 white and 28 colored schools in the 
county. 

Somerset county is one of the largest markets and 
shipping points in the country for oysters, crabs and 
fish. 

Crisfield, the largest town in the county, has a 
population of over 5,000 and a suburban population 
within two miles of the town limits of 4,000, and 
consequently there is plenty of cheap labor. It also 
has one of the deepest and finest harbors on the 
Chesapeake bay. It is a large oyster shipping point 
in winter, and in summer is the largest crab shipping 
point in the world. The oyster pack for the winter 
of 1904-1905 was 350,000 bushels, worth about $275,000. 
The soft crab business has been largely developed in 
recent years. Conservative estimates place the 
quantity shipped in 1905 at 1,400,000 dozen, worth 
$500,000. 

During the past two years the shipping of crab 
meat has been added to that of shipping soft crabs 
and oysters. About 70,000 gallons were shipped from 
Crisfield in 1905 and sold for between $60,000 and 
$70,000. 

From early March until October 1st, shad, blue fish, 
trout and a few other varieties are caught and about 
100 barrels shipped a week. 

The production of tomatoes has increased during 
the past two years to supply the two dozen canning 
houses which have sprung up during that time. Corn, 
wheat and potatoes are largely produced, though 
strawberry and tomato crops have become the princi- 
pal ones, and are worth from $150,000 to $250,000 each. 



158 The State of Maryland 

The transportation facilities of the county are good. 
The N. Y., P. & N. Railroad Company, a branch of 
the Pennsylvania running through the county, giving 
all points from Crisfield north a number of fine 
through trains daily to Baltimore, Philadelphia and 
New York. Crisfield and Deal's Island have daily 
boats to and from Baltimore. The Crisfield Steam 
Packet Company, with a good steamer, is also cover- 
ing all points on the water in the county, and also 
all the nearby islands. A large number of gasoline 
boats, with a tonnage of from 5 to 50 tons each, is also 
engaged in running large quantities of freight from 
points on the Western Shore of Maryland and Virginia 
to Crisfield for shipment north over the railroad every 
day. 

The census of manufactures for 1905 of the Govern- 
ment shows the following figures for establishments 
of a larger size, and excluding all repair and custom 
shops : 

Number of establishments. 60. 

Capital invested, $569,090. 

Cost of materials used, $507,206. 

Value of products, $873,735. 

ST. MARY'S COUNTY. 

St. Mary's county is the scene of the first settlement 
of Maryland by Lord Baltimore, and the place of the 
settlement at St. Mary's city is marked by a monu- 
ment. 

The county is almost an island, being bounded on 
the south by the Potomac, on the east by the Chesa- 
peake, on the north by the Patuxent, and on the west 
by the Wicomico river. 

The waters that almost surround St. Mary's, and 
many of their numerous branches, called creeks or 
bays, that indent the county, are navigable and 
important water courses, and no resident is more than 
six miles from navigable water. 



Lands, Products and Industries 159 

Along the rivers the land is generally flat and rises 
gently towards the interior, but the elevation attained 
is slight. 

The county is long and narrow and has an area of 
360 square miles. 

According to the census there were 1,292 farms in 
St. Mary's county in 1900, with a total of 192,503 acres 
therein, and the population at the same time was 
18,136. The tax rate of St. Mary's for 1905 was 90 
cents. 

Near the water courses the soil is generally dark, 
heavy loam, becoming lighter and sandier towards 
the interior, and if judiciously farmed is kind and 
productive. 

Temperate summers, long autumns and mild 
winters specially adapt the county to the raising of 
stock. The rapid growth of clover and grasses makes 
grazing possible for 10 months of the year, and 
nearness to markets and cheap water transportation 
gives peculiar advantages to this industry. 

Corn, wheat and tobacco are the staple crops of the 
section. Fine vegetables of all kinds are easily pro- 
duced, and clover and hay grasses thrive. Small 
fruits produce plentifully, with little care, and apples, 
pears and peaches are remunerative crops. 

Farms may be purchased at reasonable figures and 
on good terms. The inland farms can usually be 
bought cheap, while the lands on the rivers are held 
at higher prices. 

Nearly a fourth of the county is in timber, includ- 
ing pine, oak, poplar, ash, chestnut, hickory, walnut, 
beech, gum and birch, which supply all demands for 
firewood, fencing and materials for building. 

The waters of the county abound in fish and oysters, 
and the catching and shipping of them gives employ- 
ment to a large number of persons. 

Numerous steamers and sailing vessels furnish 
transportation to the nearby cities of Baltimore and 



160 The State of Maryland 

Washington, but the railroad facilities are limited 
to a short line connecting with the Pennsylvania 
system, which does not reach the larger portion of 
the county. 

There is a national bank at Leonardtown, the 
county seat of St. Mary's. The public schools are 105 in 
number, 76 white and 29 colored. St. Mary's Academy, 
at Leonardtown; St. Mary's Seminary, at St. Mary's 
city, and Charlotte Hall Academy, at Charlotte Hall, 
are among the high-class institutions of the county. 

The report of the Census Bureau on manufactures 
for 1905 shows the following figures for the county: 

Number of establishments, 7. 
Capital invested, $14,800. 

TALBOT COUNTY. 

Talbot county lies on the Eastern Shore, with a 
considerable portion of it facing the Chesapeake bay, 
and is bounded on the north by Queen Anne's, on 
the east and southeast by Caroline, on the south by 
the Choptank river, and on the west by the Eastern 
bay and Chesapeake bay. It has a population of about 
26,000 and an area of 286 square miles, with a large 
water surface. It is cut up into peninsulas by the 
Chesapeake bay and its tributaries, and is famous 
for its beautiful landscapes and water fronts. 

Easton, the county seat of Talbot, is a thriving 
place of 3,450 inhabitants. Other villages are St. 
Michaels, Claiborne, Trappe, Tunis Mills, Matthews, 
Lewistown, Royal Oak, Oxford, Skipton, Wye Mills, 
Cordova, Tilghman, Bellevue and others. 

The county has ample facilities for transportation. 
In addition to the B., C. & A. Railroad, the Philadel- 
phia, Baltimore and Washington Railroad and the 
Maryland, Delaware and Virginia Railroad and con- 
nections, its rivers and bay front are daily touched 
by the numerous steamboat lines plying from Balti- 



Lands, Products and Industries 161 

more, thus placing the markets of Baltimore, Wash- 
ington and New York within a day's reach of the 
farmers and fishermen. 

There are well-graded high schools in Easton, 
Trappe, St. Michaels and Oxford, 66 white and 18 
colored schools in the county. 

Agriculture, canning and oyster culture are its 
principal industries. The land is a rich loam, light 
in parts and quickly responding to cultivation. Small 
fruits abound throughout the county in great variety, 
and vegetables, wheat, corn, tomatoes and potatoes 
are among its most prominent products. The canning 
establishments, which have become quite numer- 
ous throughout the county, are putting up large 
quantities of tomatoes, peas and fruits, and this 
is a growing industry. Improved land on the river 
side is worth from $40 to $150 per acre. The yield 
of wheat to the acre in Talbot is as large, perhaps, as 
In any county in Maryland. 

In 1904 it is estimated that 86.000 bushels of oysters 
were taken by dredge or tong in the waters of Talbot. 
There are 768 boats of all kinds engaged in the in- 
dustry, and about 2.400 persons find a livelihood in 
taking and shipping the oysters. 

Fish in the county's waters are plentiful, the Chop- 
tank and Tuckahoe abounding in shad, perch, rock 
and similar food fish. 

The manufacturing industries of Talbot consist 
largely in packing houses, ranneries. grist mills, 
wood-working factories, etc. The canital invested is 
$649,209. 

Cost of materials used, $607,1.57. 

Value of products. $932,666. 

WASHINGTON COUNTY. 

"Washington is one of the wealthiest, most pro- 
gressive and populous counties of Marj^land. It lies 
between Frederick and Allegany, and extends from 



162 The State of Maryland 

Pennsylvania on the north to West Virginia and Vir- 
ginia on the south. For 77 miles the Potomac river 
and the Chesapeake and Ohio canal flow along its 
southern border. The area of the county is 458 square 
miles, most of which is contained in the great valley 
of the Conococheague, 15 miles wide, Ij'^ing between 
the Blue Ridge and the Alleghany mountains. This 
valley is the northern extension of the Valley of Vir- 
ginia, which was known in Civil war times as the 
granary of the Confederacy. Ihe soil is limestone 
and of great fertility, splendidly adapted to the culti- 
vation of wheat, which is the principal crop; of corn, 
hay, fruit and vegetables, dairy products and poultry. 
It is splendidly farmed and well improved. The best 
lands, well located, fetch over $100 an acre and v/ill 
produce 30 to 40 bushels of wheat. But there is much 
land in the western end of the county v/hich is ex- 
cellent for grazing and for the growth of apples and 
peaches, which can be bought for a far smaller price. 
The number of farms is 2,400 and the acreage 280,000. 
The population is about 46,000. There are 140 white 
and 11 colored common schools, high schools, and at 
Hagerstown a Woman's College and other schools. 

In size and importance Hagerstown ranks third 
among Maryland towns. Its present population is 
estimated at nearly 18,000, and it is the seat of a large 
manufacturing industry, including two automobile 
factories, one of the largest table works in the 
county, knitting mills, spoke and bending works, 
furniture factories, paper mills, silk mills, organ 
works, a brev/ery and a long list of smaller indus- 
tries. The total number of factories in Washing- 
ton county, exclusive of the small ones, is 115. 
having an annual output of products worth $4,650,000. 
There are many flouring mills in the county, which 
convert the wheat crop into flour before it is shipped 
to market. At Williamsport there is a large and pros 



Lands, Products and Industries 1<>^ 

perous tannery. Hagerstown is the seat of the cele- 
brated Hagerstown Fair, one of the largest poultry 
shows and agricultural fairs in the United States. 
It is at the meeting point of a system of fine turn- 
pike roads which radiate from it as a center, pene- 
trating every district of Washington county and ex- 
tending into adjoining counties. It is also a railroad 
center. The Washington County road connects it 
at Weverton, 24 miles distant on the Potomac, with 
the main line of the Baltimore and Ohio, east and 
west, and with the Valley branch, extending to Lex- 
ington. The Cumberland Valley road connects at 
Harrisburg with the Pennsylvania system, of which 
it is a part, and southward connects Hagerstown with 
Winchester, Va., and Martinsburg, W. Va., The 
Western Maryland is the shortest line to Baltimore, 
and passing v/estward it runs to Cumberland, where 
it connects with the West Virginia Central and Pitts- 
burg, which it has absorbed, and will shortly be con- 
nected with the great V/abash system. From Hagers- 
town a branch of this road runs northward through 
the Cumberland valley, Pennsylvania, connecting at 
Shippensburg with the Reading system. Hagerstown 
is the northern terminus of the Norfolk and Western. 
The Shenandoah Valley division of that road runs 
from Hagerstown to the main line at Roanoke, 230 
miles distant. In addition to the steam roads, 
Hagerstown has an electric railway through its streets 
and extending across the mountains to Frederick 
city, Williamsport on the southwest, aAd northward 
into Pennsylvania. Another line leading all the way 
to Baltimore is promised. 

WICOMICO COUNTY. 

Wicomico county is bounded on the north by Dela- 
v/are, on the south by Somerset county and Worcester 
county, on the east by Worcester county, and on the 
west by Dorchester county. It contains 867 square 



164 The State of Maryland 

mites, with a large water surface. It lies 130 miles 
south of Philadelphia and 85 miles southeast of Balti- 
more. Its eastern limit is about 15 miles from the 
Atlantic ocean and its population is 23,000. The tax 
rate for 1905 was 79 1^ cents. 

The towns are Salisbury, Delmar, Sharptown, 
Quantico, Mardela Springs, Hebron, Fruitland, Pitts- 
ville, Parsonsburg, Willard, Bivalve, Nanticoke, White 
Haven, Jesterville, Allen and Riverton. 

Salisbury, the county seat, is advantageously situ- 
ated at the head of navigation on the Wicomico river, 
at the junction of the New York, Philadelphia and Nor- 
folk and the Baltimore, Chesapeake and Atlantic 
railroads, 30 miles from Ocean City, on the Atlantic 
ocean. The city is substantially built and has a 
population of about 4,300. It has 10 miles of well- 
graded and paved streets and a sewerage system. 

The soil varies in character from a light loam to 
a red clay loam. Generally the land is well adapted 
to the growth of cereals, grass, apples, peaches, pears 
and small fruits, especially strawberries and black- 
berries, of which immense crops are grown. Straw- 
berries commence to ripen from the 5th to the 20th 
of May, and last until the first to the middle of July, 
according to the variety and season. 

The climate is mild and healthy. The proximity 
of the Gulf stream and the presence of the bodies 
of salt water render it pleasant, uniform and health- 
ful throughout the year. Cattle need scarcely be fed 
or housed during the winter, farm work, and even 
plowing, can generally be done during some part of 
every month in the year. 

The purest drinking water can be obtained by 
driven wells at a very small expense. 

Land can be bought for from $5 to $50 per acre. 

The Nanticoke and Wicomico rivers and their 
tributaries supply the people of the county with shad, 



Lands, Products and Industries 165 

rock, perch and other kinds of fish, as well as an 
abundance of oysters. 

The oyster packing industry is not as large as 
formerly, and planting is now being entered into by 
several of the largest packers. It is expected that 
within a few years most of the oyster bottoms along 
the rivers will be under artificial propagation. 

At present there are but four oyster packing houses 
in Wicomico, and it is estimated that at least $100,000 
is invested in this property, oyster catching machin- 
ery and shore property. There are about 600 em- 
ployed on boats in the taking of oysters, and an 
additional number engaged in the packing and 
shipping. Much money is also invested and a num- 
ber of people employed in the fish industry in the 
western section of the county. 

The packing of soft crabs and the shipping of 
hard crab meat, in various ways, is one of the new 
and growing industries of the county. 

Wicomico county is well adapted to the growing 
of small fruits and truck, prominent among which 
are strawberries, blackberries, huckleberries, canta- 
loups and watermelons, in addition to which there 
is a considerable amount of corn, wheat and tomatoes 
raised. 

Within the past few years great strides have been 
made in the growing of grasses and grains, and the 
land has been improved for cattle feeding. There are 
upwards of 3,000 acres of land set in strawberries, 
yielding about 3,000 quarts to the acre. It is esti- 
mated that in a good year 9,000,000 quarts, salable at 
an average price of five cents net to the grower, will 
yield, in round numbers, $450,000. It is estimated 
that there are ^,000 acres set in blackberries, which 
yield about 2,000 quarts to the acre, making a total 
crop of 2,000,000 quarts, which it would take at least 
1,000 pickers to gather, and means a net income to 
the growers of $150,000. 



166 the State of Maryland 

The huckleberry grows wild in Wicomico, and the 
fruit belongs to whoever will pick it. It is mostly 
found in the swampy and low lands of the county 
in large quantities, and as it costs nothing to culti- 
vate, it is a net revenue to the pickers. The fruit is 
purchased by the country stores and shipped to North- 
ern markets, where it brings good prices. 

There is also a large acreage in raspberries, and 
the wild asparagus crop brings considerable money 
to the county. 

The New York, Philadelphia and Norfolk Railroad 
runs through it from north to south, and is a trunk 
line from New York to Richmond and Norfolk. The 
B., C. & A, Railway crosses the county from east to 
v^rest, running from the Atlantic ocean to the Chesa- 
peake bay. A large fleet of sailins and packet vessels 
offers cheap transportation to Baltimore, and steam- 
boats run on the Nanticoke and Wicomico rivers 
every day. 

There are 91 white and 17 colored schools in the 
county. 

The United States census of manufactures for 1905 
is as follows: 

Number of establishments, 124. 
Capital invested, $1,370,878. 
Cost of materials used, $1,321,628. 
Value of products, $2,029,292. 

WORCESTER COUNTY. 

Worcester county's area is 487 square miles, of 
which Synepuxent, Chincoteague, Isle of Wight, 
Assowoman and Newport bays form about one-quarter. 
The v/hole eastern boundary of the county is the 
Atlantic ocean. A narrow strip of beach, ranging 
from one-quarter of a mile to one mile in width, 
forms the coast and is separated from the mainland 
by the bays above mentioned. The narrowest part 



Lands, Products and Industries 167 

of the water is at Ocean City, a prosperous seaside 
resort, where it is spanned by a bridge about one- 
quarter of a mile in length. The widest part of the 
bay is just below Snow Hill, where it is about eight 
miles from shore to shore. Delaware is the northern 
and Virginia the southern boundary. 

The population of the county is over 21,000, and 
the assessed valuation of property is $5,769,123. The 
tax rate for 1905 was $1. 

Snow Hill is the county seat. Pocomoke City is 
14 miles south of Snow Hill, and is connected there- 
with by the local packet line, also by the boats of 
the B., C. & A. R. R. Co. Berlin, 16 miles north of 
Snow Hill and eight miles west of Ocean City, is at 
the junction of the Delaware, Maryland and Virginia 
branch of the P., B. & W. R. R. and the B., C. & A. 
Railway. 

The thriving villages are Stockton and Girdletree, 
from each of which are shipped annually about 40,000 
barrels of oysters, and each of which contains a 
thriving bank, canning factory and barrel factory, 
and also good schools and churches. Other growing 
villages are Newark, Bishopvllle, Whaleyville and 
Showells. 

The steady growth of Ocean City as a summer 
resort has made an excellent local market for truck. 

The soil of "Worcester county varies from a light 
sand to a heavy clay, the majority being a splendid 
loam with some clay. The proximity of the Atlantic 
ocean and the Gulf stream makes the climate tern- ' 
perate. There are 1,987 farms in the county. The 
county abounds in the production of small fruits. 
The principal products of the farms are grain, wheat 
and truck. There are two large and prosperous 
nurseries in the county. 

From the bays of the county are taken quantities 
of the finest oysters, and the revenue from these add 



J 



168 The State of Maryland 

materially to the prosperity of the county. Fish are 
plentiful in the bays. At Ocean City deep sea fishing 
is an extensive industry. 

There are 86 white and 20 colored schools in 
Worcester. Banking facilities are ample, the banks 
containing on deposit about $1,500,000. 

There are scattered through the county a number 
of canning factories and also 15 or 20 small sawmills, 
which supply lumber to the larger mills. 

The census of 1905 makes the following report for 
the larger industries of Worcester county: 

Number of establishments, 87. 

Capital invested, $795,117. 

Cost of materials used, $916,969. 

Value of products, $1,450,259. 



MARYLAND 



A DESCRIPTION OF ITS 

LANDS, PRODUCTS AND 
INDUSTRIES 



n 




1906 



COMPILED BY 

T. J. C WILLLAMS 

FOR THE BOARD OF PUBLIC WORKS 



LEJa'08 



